ALAMANCE, N.C.-- An influx of flooding on the Haw River is leaving Alamance County strapped for resources. Saxapahaw Island Park flooded just two weeks ago.

• The Haw River in Alamance County has seen a spike in flooding.
• Four of the eight floods in the last 10 years have occurred in the last three months.
• Making the parks safe for neighbors to enter again is draining county resources.

Neighbor Ryan Fitzsimmons walks his dog there every day.

"The flooding is pretty impressive. We watch it every time it happens,” Fitzsimmons said.

The Haw River in Alamance County has seen a spike in flooding. Guil Hohnson with Alamance Parks says the patterns this year are unusual.

"In the last three months, we've had four major flooding events over 20-feet,” Johnson explained. “In the last 10 years on the Haw, we've only had eight total. Again, four of the eight have been in the last three months."

Neighbors have seen a lot of park closures. When the water recedes, you can see debris all over the place.

"A lot of wood, a lot of sand, mud, a lot of trash from up-river,” Johnson said.

Making the parks safe for neighbors to enter again is a huge task. Johnson said it's now draining county resources.

"Luckily, all the cleanup is in house. It's just man hours,” Johnson said. “So we're taking time away from other projects that we're doing. We're constantly working on new projects, new trails, new parks. So when things like this happen, we have to put things to a halt. New projects to a halt."

On top of that, there's damage to newly-built structures.

"We had two major bridges wash out towards the Village of Glenco, the Mill Village. We have since, and I believe they washed out in Florence, and since then we've replaced one of them and the next one is going to be replaced in January,” Johnson said.

Neighbors like Fitzsimmons are grateful for their cleanup efforts.

"It's easy to want to say, 'ah you know, it's too much extra work and too much extra money.' But if you want anything that's nice for people to use, it takes a little extra effort,” Fitzsimmons said. “And to see them taking care of it and cleaning it up is great, I think."

The county hopes its good neighbors volunteer some of their free time to help pick up trash.

Alamance Parks tell us Saxapahaw Island Park is open to the public and safe, but there is still mud and silt on the ground that could cause you to get stuck down there.