City workers rescued from flood waters

ATLANTA — The severe storms that rolled through Wednesday caused flash flooding in several parts of Atlanta.

Channel 2 Action News has obtained new video that shows the moments before a water rescue in northwest Atlanta.

City workers drove into high floodwaters along Woodward Way and then got stuck.

"We couldn't make it," Gregory Roberts told Channel 2 Action News.

Couldn't make it through rising water from a swollen Peachtree Creek.

Five city workers forced onto the roofs of their nearly submerged trucks until Atlanta Fire Rescue crews showed up with rafts.

The crews ferried them to safety one by one, including a grateful Roberts, still a little uneasy from the ordeal.

"Just stopped on it. We were trying to, but we couldn't make it," Roberts said.

For rescuers, the obvious lesson is worth repeating.

"Please do not drive in standing water or on any type of water that you feel you can't make it through," said Sgt. Cortez Stafford with the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.

Earlier, firefighters knocked on doors, warning residents of rising waters in this flood-prone neighborhood.

Patterson Hunter, 13, and his family have seen it before.

"I think it's a good thing that we're warning people," Patterson said.

And a good thing those firefighters were already around, close enough for a dramatic, but quick rescue.

"That's what we're here for, whether it's city workers or whether they're civilians in the neighborhood," Stafford said.

Storm runoff can cause creeks and streams to keep rising for quite a while even after the rain stops.

In Clayton County crews shut down flooded roads to keep people safe. One woman there got stuck in her car as well by rising floodwaters.

Hours of heavy rain across Clayton County caused waters to rise in just minutes. The Flint River overtook Upper Riverdale Road, trapping Johnnie Mae Wiggins in her car.

"Got stalled out right here. It's deep right here where this car is stuck at," Wiggins told Channel 2’s Justin Wilfon.

After she called 911 from inside the car, she said rescue crews pulled her out.

"For me it was very terrifying. All I could think about is I'm stuck in the middle of this water. I'm pregnant," Wiggins said.

A few miles away, Herbert Wheeler worried about his home.

"This whole neighborhood floods out, every year," Wheeler told Wilfon.

Water from a creek overflowed into his backyard, creeping to within just a few feet of his house.

"We got more rain coming, and once we got more rain coming, that means we've got to watch out for our property," Wheeler said.

Just down the street Clayton County crews closed Shangrila Way after water from that same creek washed away some of the dirt and rocks holding up the road. Crews feared it could collapse.

"That's a thoroughfare for everybody going to work and back and forth to work," one neighbor said.

Shangrila Way will stay closed Wednesday night.  Crews were expected to return Thursday to try to stabilize it.

Cox Media Group