Blue Ridge, Georgia: Flash Flood Emergency in Fannin and Gilmer Counties as Mudslides and a Water Rescue Are Reported

Updated 23:51 UTC: Kemp declares a state of emergency, curfews imposed, rescues pass 100

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Thursday afternoon for Fannin, Gilmer, Murray and Union counties, CNN and FOX Weather reported. FOX 5 Atlanta said the declaration mobilizes state resources after more than 80 people were rescued in Georgia, and CNN put rescues across Georgia and Tennessee at more than 100, citing Kristin Coulter of the Tennessee Emergency Management Authority. The agency knew of no injuries or missing people at that time, CNN said.

McCaysville Police Chief Michael O. Earley ordered a mandatory curfew in McCaysville daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice, with checkpoints at access points to the restricted zones, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Polk County Sheriff Steve Ross set a mandatory curfew for flood impacted areas around Copperhill, Tennessee, for the same hours, CNN reported. Schools and government offices in Fannin County will stay closed on Friday while crews clear mud and check bridges and roads, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City declared a Flash Flood Emergency late on Wednesday night for southern Fannin County and northern Gilmer County in north Georgia, after local law enforcement reported thunderstorms producing heavy rain that had already brought mudslides and a water rescue.

Updated 19:22 UTC: 57 rescued, river below flood stage, waters receding

Swift water teams rescued an estimated 57 people overnight in Fannin County, the county emergency management agency said, according to CNN and the Associated Press. The Toccoa River dropped below flood stage early on Thursday afternoon, CNN reported, and floodwaters were receding in McCaysville and Copperhill, revealing streets covered in thick mud and damaged buildings. McCaysville Police Chief Michael Earley said no major injuries had been reported as of Thursday afternoon, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. The Tennessee Valley Authority was managing high water at three hydroelectric dams on the Ocoee River, the Associated Press reported.

Updated 13:38 UTC: river crests above the 1990 record, at least 30 rescued, McCaysville closed

The Toccoa River in Georgia, which becomes the Ocoee River once it crosses into Tennessee, crested just above its previous record flood, set in 1990, just after 6 a.m. ET on Thursday at McCaysville and Copperhill, according to the National Weather Service, CNN reported. The crest passed the level the service links to a catastrophic flood event in the two towns.

At least 30 people had been rescued as crews worked to reach stranded residents, FOX 5 Atlanta reported in a photo report from the region. It said floodwaters submerged vehicles, swept away bridges and left some homes underwater in McCaysville, with flooded downtown streets and washed out roads across the area.

McCaysville is closed until further notice, Police Chief Michael Earley said, according to CNN. Evacuations were ordered for residents on West Tennessee Avenue and East Tennessee Avenue, where a Georgia Department of Transportation camera showed streets and buildings swamped by the river. “We’re actively trying to water rescue people, and we’ve still got several people trapped in homes that we’re trying to get to,” Earley told Atlanta News First, a CNN affiliate.

The rain has ended across north Georgia and southern Tennessee, and no more downpours are expected through the weekend, CNN reported, but dangerous river flooding will stay a threat through Thursday. Up to 6 inches of rain fell in just six hours at multiple gauges, on top of widespread totals of 3 to 6 inches and isolated totals over 8 inches.

Updated 12:38 UTC: evacuations in McCaysville, emergency across the Tennessee line

The flooding spread and deepened before dawn on Thursday. Police in McCaysville, in Fannin County, asked people in some neighborhoods to evacuate immediately just before 3 a.m. local time, and the City of McCaysville declared a state of emergency just after 5 a.m., FOX Weather reported. County officials said swiftwater rescues were under way amid widespread flooding, with water into multiple homes, and FOX 5 Atlanta reported emergency crews taking calls from residents trapped in homes and vehicles, with flooding also reported in downtown Blue Ridge. FOX 5 Atlanta said no injuries or deaths had been confirmed in the information available early Thursday.

Across the state line, the National Weather Service in Morristown issued a Flash Flood Emergency for Copperhill in southeastern Polk County, Tennessee, at 3:58 a.m. EST. The service said law enforcement reported widespread significant flooding, with homes and businesses under water and being evacuated as runoff came down the Ocoee River, which had risen to major flood stage and stood 3 feet from its all-time peak. Between 5 and 8 inches of rain had fallen across much of the region in 12 hours, FOX Weather reported.

In a bulletin at 6:39 a.m. EST, the National Weather Service in Peachtree City extended the Flash Flood Warning for north central Fannin County until 9 a.m. EST and kept a Flash Flood Emergency in place for McCaysville. The service said between 3 and 5 inches of rain had fallen in McCaysville, flooding was already occurring, and no additional rainfall was expected there. Georgia State Patrol helicopters were on standby to assist with evacuations after first light, the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency said, according to FOX Weather.

In a bulletin issued at 10:47 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 4, the weather service extended a Flash Flood Warning for northwestern Fannin County and north central Gilmer County until 1:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 5. The service said between 5 and 6 inches of rain had fallen across the warned area, with additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches possible and expected rainfall rates of 1.5 to 2.5 inches in one hour. It rated the flash flood damage threat as catastrophic and said flooding was observed. WSB-TV in Atlanta carried the catastrophic warning on Wednesday night, and FOX Weather tracked the severe storms and flash flood warnings moving across the Southeast, with a focus on the northern Georgia warning.

Where the water is rising

The weather service said some locations that will experience flash flooding include Blue Ridge, Higdon and Colwell. It warned of life threatening flash flooding of low water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

The bulletin called the situation particularly dangerous and told people in the warned area to seek higher ground now. It said flash flooding was ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

What officials are telling people

Move to higher ground now, the weather service said. This is an extremely dangerous and life threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.

The service repeated its standard warning for flooded roads: turn around, do not drown when encountering flooded roads, because most flood deaths occur in vehicles. It also told people to be especially cautious at night, when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding. Law enforcement reports, not radar alone, were the source for the mudslides and the water rescue named in the bulletin, the service said.

A day of building rain

The emergency followed a day of widespread rain across north Georgia. In a hazardous weather outlook issued at 3:32 a.m. EST on Wednesday, the Peachtree City office said widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms were expected across north and central Georgia on Wednesday into the night, with isolated flash flooding and nuisance flooding of creeks, streams and roadways possible, along with an isolated strong storm capable of strong wind gusts.

By late Wednesday night, the rain over Fannin and Gilmer counties had gone well past that early outlook. Five to six inches had fallen, more was still coming at rates the service put at up to 2.5 inches an hour, and the warning in place until 1:30 a.m. carried the strongest language the service uses for flooding: a Flash Flood Emergency, with a catastrophic damage threat, for the Blue Ridge area and the communities around it.