Heavy rains led to severe flooding along a stretch of the Georgia-Tennessee border on Thursday, prompting evacuations and dozens of rescues of stranded people from submerged residences and buildings, the authorities said.
Emergency workers in boats rescued more than 55 people in Fannin County in northern Georgia, the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency said.
“Although floodwaters are beginning to recede, we ask everyone to continue using caution,” the agency said, noting that roads may still be flooded, damaged or unsafe for driving. “Please avoid unnecessary travel and never attempt to drive through flooded roadways.”
Kristin Coulter, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Authority, said that 58 people were rescued by her state’s swift water rescue teams near the Georgia border and that no injuries or fatalities had been reported.
Chief Michael Earley of the McCaysville Police Department in Fannin County told Fox5 Atlanta that floodwaters in the citys’ downtown area had reached as high as seven feet overnight. He said one of his department’s police vehicles had been seen floating down the Toccoa River.
The section of the Toccoa River that runs through McCaysville begins in Georgia at the base of Blue Ridge Lake and becomes the Ocoee River as it crosses into Tennessee. At Copperhill, Tenn, which sits across the river and the state line from McCaysville, a U.S. Geological Survey gauge recorded a water level of more than 18 feet on Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service considers a rapid rise to 18 feet to be a “catastrophic” flood event. The agency issued a flash flood emergency for the river early Thursday.
Chief Earley told reporters on Thursday that there were no reports of injuries except for a firefighter who had leg pain and collapsed.
“We’re still going house to house,” he said, adding that there were reports of people on the roofs of their homes. His officers deployed drones to help locate stranded residents.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction on Thursday for Fannin County to keep drones and other aircraft from disrupting rescue efforts, state officials said.
Gov. Brian P. Kemp of Georgia declared a state of emergency for Fannin, Gilmer, Murray and Union Counties. He said the Georgia Emergency Management Agency was leading a multiagency response with the Georgia Department of Public Safety, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and agencies in Tennessee.
“This is an ongoing flash flood emergency,” he said on social media.
In Copperhill, Tenn., along the Georgia border, a U.S. Geological Survey gauge recorded a water level of more than 18 feet on the Ocoee River on Thursday morning.
National Weather Service forecasters estimated that six to 10 inches of rain had fallen in northern Georgia overnight. That water drained north into the river valley, forcing the abrupt crest of the Ocoee River and making Thursday’s water levels the highest ever recorded.
The previous record was set on Feb. 16, 1990, when the river reached 17.75 feet.
Officials in Copperhill issued evacuation orders and closed the city on Thursday because of the flooding.
The agency said flooding was expected in Polk County through Thursday evening.
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