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Storms have produced up to 7 inches of rain in White County

By Severe Weather Team 2
By Severe Weather Team 2

ATLANTA — A Flash Flood Emergency has expired for White County. The warning, released by the National Weather Service, urged people in that area to get to higher ground immediately.

A camera from the U.S Geological Service showed heavy rain falling on the city of Helen and the Chattahoochee River, which was flowing rapidly in that area.

Roads were closed throughout downtown Helen and business parking lots were covered with flood waters.

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Katie Walls said Carolina Springs Road and Kinsey Town Road were both reported underwater.

A warning from the National Weather Service advised, "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."

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns said the storms appeared to be getting stronger and a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was briefly issued for White County.

“This is a storm that continues to back-build on itself. There’s continuous cloud-to-ground lightning that shows it’s intensifying a bit,” Burns said.

By 5:45 p.m., Walls said the worst appeared to be over, but the Flash Flood Emergency remained in effect until 10 p.m.

The storms produced up to 7 inches of rain in a four-hour span in the area around Helen.

Ken Lampert was driving home from Gainesville when the waters rose.

“It was the first time I saw a flash flood,” Lampert said. “Just in that five minutes when I went back, water was just flowing across the road just coming down the mountains.”

Farther south in Cleveland on Kinsey Town Road, officials said at least one home flooded.

“Mountain topography is creating a nightmare scenario where we have rain that is just running off the mountains over the course of the lowest possible locations. Now we're seeing roads that are under water. This is really a disaster around the Helen area,” Burns said.

Some businesses used sandbags to protect their property. Fire officials told us they had crews out all over the county monitoring conditions.

Cox Media Group

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