News

Sunday storms bring flood damage to metro Atlanta

Monday is shaping up to be a much better day and after the constant rain Sunday, we’ve probably earned it.

As much as eight inches of rain fell north of Atlanta, flooding several neighborhoods, blowing up a dam and washing away a large chuck of a road in Hall County.

The city of Flowery Branch took the biggest blow. The Hall County town is under a state of emergency because the flooding created a “major disruption of routine affairs, business and government operations within the city,” Mayor Mike Miller said in a press release.

The rains flooded a quarter-mile section of Atlanta Highway and completely washed away a section of Stephens Road. It will be closed until it can be rebuilt, officials said.

Miller is also telling people to stay away from the downtown area. The floods have washed away out a previously compromised culvert leading to Lake Lanier.

“We have several feet of water that can’t get through to the lake,” he said.

Lake Lanier picked up another foot from the storms. It is now more than two feet above full pool.

But no one is hurt and no one in Flowery Branch has been forced to evacuate.  However, here is a boil water advisory for Flowery Branch until 9 p.m. today

In Forsyth County, WSB’s Daphne Young reports Parks Road off Highway 306 is washed out from the rains. Channel 2 Action News reports a dam broke near Sanders Road. Officials are also worried that section between Mary Alice Park and Timberlake Trail could collapse due to flood damage.

The rising waters also temporarily shut down two bridges in Johns Creek. But Parsons Bridge and Buice Bridge are back open.

The rains have also compromised the Chattahoochee River. The river is filled with E. Coli from the rains and runoff. Experts say the E. Coli level is 140 higher than the level required to issue an alert.

In Gwinnett County, first responders were kept busy by a number of residential fires, a gas leak and a downed tree that blocked part of I-85 near Buford Highway early Sunday morning, spokesman Tommy Rutledege said.

In Duluth, rain-swelled Long Lake caused flooding in parts of the Riverbrooke neighborhood.

And in Sandy Springs, firefighters rescued about 20 horses late Sunday afternoon from flooded stables at the Huntcliff River Club along the Chattahoochee River.

“We were able to get the animals out before the waters got too high,” said Sandy Springs Fire and Rescue Capt. Robert Rogers. The horses will be temporarily stabled at the Wills Park Equestrian Center in Alpharetta.

As for the weather moving forward, WSB meteorologist Kirk Mellish says to expect most of us can expect partly cloudy skies Monday with highs in the mid-80s.

There will be fewer clouds Tuesday with highs ticking into the mid and upper 80s. But Mellish says the chance of rain goes up again mid-week.

Listen

news

weather

traffic

mobile apps

Everything you love about wsbradio.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!