GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — Flash floods in Gilmer County near Ellijay sent creeks overflowing their banks to collapse sections of roads overnight Tuesday.
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“Honestly, it was really bad. It sounded like a loud storm and it also kind of of sounded like the ocean,” said neighbor Angie Loonzo.
Loonzo and her family live on a creek near Dalton Street in Ellijay.
Torrential rain overnight Tuesday caused flash flooding on the creek, which eroded the ground near the road, causing it to collapse.
“My parents were definitely worried about it,” said Loonzo.
She told Channel 2’s Tom Regan the rising water came within two feet of their home.
“Were you thinking of evacuating?” asked Regan
“Yeah, but honestly we couldn’t go very far. There was water everywhere last night,” said Loonzo.
The Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office said heavy rains also caused flooding in some homes, and downed trees. There were no reports of trees on homes.
A section of Gates Chapel Road also collapsed, after flash flooding on a creek that runs under it, destroyed a metal culvert and other road supports.
“It’s all washed out. All the pasture fences that cross the creek,” said farmer Emmet Farist.
Farist said the flooding destroyed section of fence surround his cattle pasture and land and he feared some of the animal would wander away.
He also worries about his chickens.
“With the bridge out, I can’t get the feed to the chickens. I got chicken house over the there on the other side,” said Farist.
The farmer said his rain gauge indicated he received six inches of rain in just an hour and a half.
Authorities said road repairs could take days or longer.
Initially authorities reported dozens of residents at a nursing home in Ellijay were forced to evacuate due to flooding, but a manager of the facility said after notifying the sheriff’s office of their intention to move residents out of the building they determined it wasn’t necessary.
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