Bonnaroo flooding aftermath: scattered debris, muddy conditions, thousands devastated

From Local 3 News: What was supposed to be four days of lively music, vibrant crowds and nonstop fun is now a muddy field with debris scattered where stages once stood.

"It was pretty wild-looking,” says Thomas Trouy, manager of The Gear Closet. He says what was left were "dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of items—anything you could imagine basically still out there—coolers, chairs, tents, everything.”

Due to risky weather, the festival was canceled on just the second day, leaving thousands of concert-goers, vendors and musicians devastated…and stranded.

"I think it was a pretty tough departure for everybody. A lot of people were stuck for multiple hours, a lot of cars got stuck [and there were] tractors coming in to pull and tow people out of the mud,” Trouy says.

While some weren't too happy, others decided to make the most of it, but after a few hours, it was time to clear out and clean up.

"By the time we got there, it looked very much like a tornado had come through the place, honestly. We had a lot of work to do,” Trouy says.

Each year, Chattanooga's Gear Closet drops by after the festival to help clean up, reselling the hundreds of items concert-goers leave behind. Every penny then goes toward clean water initiatives. This year, the crew made an early appearance.

"Tarps all over the ground–that was what a lot of what was left–tarps and things like that. Tents, popups and canopies were just completely destroyed,” Trouy says.

The crew had spent weeks preparing and rallying volunteers for the annual clean-up, but with limited hands and short notice, they weren't able to get the job done all in one day.

"We had a really small crew today with it being really last minute,” Trouy says. “There was really only so much we could do, so we didn't quite finish loading up our truck or anything."

That's why they're urging volunteers to come out again. The crew will be heading back to Manchester Monday at 8:30am.