NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Rats, roaches and stray dogs are issues residents are batting from East Nashville to Bellevue as their trash piles up.

Residents tell News 2 they feel helpless after their trash services were skipped.

“It’s been like a month,” said Kenneth Hughes who lives on Russell Court in East Nashville.

In Bellevue, residents in Bellevue Highlands are also upset. Alla Sverdlova told News 2 they’ve been skipping every other week of service in her neighborhood for the last month.

“Frustrated and angry would be an understatement. At this point it feels powerless, disappointed,” said Sverdlova.

Residents are fed up as the trash mounts up.

“We got trash all over here so there’s rats, there are bugs and it’s blowing in the area. It’s like we are in a third world country,” Marable explained of his East Nashville residence.

You can see the dumpster overflowing on Russell Court, trash piled up and spilling out, bags stacked on back porches, even inside grills. It’s an area serviced by Metro Nashville.

“It’s been a month. I can understand two snow days, but there’s days in between there,” said Marable.

Residents in both neighborhoods say the area is being infested with roaches and rats.

“I saw rats and then I saw something else I couldn’t make out rather that was a possum or whatever. It was late at night and I saw them moving in the trash. That’s sad, man” said Hughes, who also lives on Russell Court.

“There’s a rat there, dark gray rat as big as a kitten,” said Marable.

Sverdlova said they called local exterminators as well after finding roaches in their Bellevue garage.

She says it’s an ongoing issue with her service provider GFL Environmental, three weeks of trash left behind during the holidays.

“We had trash bags piled next to trash cans. It was just awful, it was just awful,” she said, pointing out that the trash was picked up Monday night.

A manager with GFL tells News 2 that the entire market has suspended or delayed services over the last month following snow events.

“We had one day of snow, so one day of snow can mess up the entire GFL Environmental for months? Seriously?” Sverdlova questioned.

GFL officials also say they are experiencing the same issues everyone else is with staffing, which impacts services.

As for the situation in East Nashville, Metro sent the below statement saying the problem is due to fleet issues.

“Due to fleet issues, dumpster trash collection has fallen behind. Of the ten (10) front load trucks Metro has to empty dumpsters, all 10 are in the shop awaiting repair. We leased four (4) front load trucks in order to be able to maintain services and at the current time, only one of them is in service. The other three are also awaiting repair.

“As you are aware, supply chain issues have affected vehicle repair and manufacturing across the country. These supply chain constraints have resulted in a large portion of our Waste Services fleet awaiting parts for the necessary repair.

“Working with Finance and other Metro divisions, Waste Services is working to find a solution to the delays as quickly as possible.”