ATLANTA — On June 2, Jessica Johnson said she missed the last bus so she decided to walk home.
That, she said, was a big mistake.
"My whole leg, from like my foot to (my knee), went all the way down in there," she said. "I was in shock. I didn't know what I had fell into or nothing."
It turns out, Johnson walked right into a water meter that was missing its cover. She didn't see it in the dark.
"I tried to get up and I couldn't," she said.
Johnson suffered a gash on her leg, and a bad sprain. She was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Donald Tinch lives right in front of the meter.
"Several people fell in it," he said.
And it's not the only one missing a cover.
Channel 2 action news reporter Erin Coleman counted three missing covers in just two blocks along Campbelton road near Olive Street.
Further down, there were even more, and still more that don't quite fit.
A representative for the Watershed department said it's a citywide problem. Thieves are stealing the covers for scrap.
In the last 6 months, they've had to replace 350 covers throughout the city. The worst areas are in northwest and southwest Atlanta.
The representative also said that crews are trying to replace them as soon as they find out that they are missing.
Neighbors who live along Campbelton said the covers have been missing for months.
"The city man comes out every month to check it and we tell him about it. They never replaced it," Tish added.
But after Channel 2 started making calls, a crew came out to Campbelton Road and started replacing several covers.
That makes many pedestrians, including Johnson, very happy.
To report a problem with a meter lid:
Call or text: 404-569-8301
Email:meterlid@atlantaga.gov
Facebook.com/ATLwatershed
Twitter.com/ATLwatershed