Local

Heavy rain leaves wedding guests stranded

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — All that remains of a local couple's wedding is soaked linens, a soggy dance floor and a drenched arbor.

Heavy rain left guests stranded, but the couple's wedding story still ended happily.

"Well it was gorgeous Saturday night," said Kim Lingle, the mother of the bride. "(It) went off without a hitch. It sprinkled, misted a couple of times. By then, the wedding was over, and we were celebrating."
 
Lingle hosted her daughter's wedding Saturday night on Trudy Drive in Flowery Branch. Rain extended the celebration through Sunday.
 
Rain pounded the neighborhood along Lake Lanier, washing out a huge chunk of Trudy Drive, stranding residents and the couple's wedding guests.
 
"We had folks stranded at our home, no water and no way to get out and needing baby diapers," said Kim Lingle.
 
Guest Maddie Feltgen and her family missed their flight to San Diego, Calif.

"Woke up Sunday morning, went upstairs to get some coffee and Steve was there saying, 'You're not getting out. The road's washed out,'" Feltgen said.

The Lingle house was full, but a couple of doors down, the Peterson house was empty.
 
"We were in Ohio for a wedding, so we just got back this morning and barely got through the road," said resident Gary Peterson.
 
Peterson estimates 11 inches fell in his yard.
 
A road crew got Trudy Drive repaired and reopened Monday.
 
Overall, it was a slight inconvenience for Lingle's wedding party. She said the timing was actually perfect.
 
"Had the rode washed out earlier, there would have been no wedding," Lingle said.
 
"Yes I'm very relieved. I'm happy that Kim didn't get stuck with all these people in her house or that the wedding wasn't canceled," said Feltgen.

As for the bride and groom, they made it out Saturday night and are on their way to their honeymoon in Hawaii.