🚨 Georgia & Tennessee Record Flood | McCaysville & Copperhill Underwater, 125 Rescued & Bridges Cut

Record flash flooding swept through McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee, overnight into Thursday, November 5, 2026, after training storms dumped 5 to 11 inches of rain on the north Georgia mountains, with 11.19 inches recorded just northwest of Blue Ridge in under six hours. The Toccoa and Ocoee River rose from 2.74 feet on Wednesday evening to a record crest of 18.05 feet, beating the February 1990 flood of record at 17.8 feet. Downtown McCaysville and Copperhill were flooded as the river rose about 14 feet in roughly seven and a half hours. Homes, businesses and a church were under water, cars, debris and a police car were swept down the river, both bridges between the two towns were topped by floodwater, and water reached homes in Blue Ridge and Cherry Log before the flood wave hit the state line. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued, McCaysville declared a state of emergency and police urged everyone to stay away from the city, while Copperhill closed as well. Crews rescued 57 people in Fannin County with 13 swiftwater teams and nine boats and 68 in Polk County, Tennessee, Army Rangers and Georgia DNR game wardens joined the response, and power, cell service and the water treatment plant went down, leaving McCaysville under a boil water advisory. No deaths had been reported. In this video, we examine how the river rose so fast overnight, the record crest, the damage and the rescues on both sides of the state line, why the mountains and the dams made it worse, and where the same storm goes next. The flooding came from a cross-country storm system whose thunderstorms kept training over the same small area of the southern Appalachians, where steep mountain valleys funneled the runoff into creeks that join the river below Blue Ridge Dam. Daily Weather Report covers natural disasters and extreme weather events across the United States as they develop, using sourced reporting and avoiding unsupported speculation. CHAPTERS 00:00 — Georgia & Tennessee Underwater: A Record Flood 00:52 — TRAINING STORMS — Up to 11 Inches in Hours 02:33 — 14 Feet in 7.5 Hours: The River Explodes 04:11 — “Stay Away” — Both Towns Closed 05:39 — SWEPT AWAY — Cars, a Church & a Police Car 06:58 — 125 Rescued Across Two States 08:20 — Rooftops & Kitchen Tables: The Rescues 09:42 — Why It Happened: Storms, Mountains & the Dam 11:20 — Second Flood Since August 12:53 — The Aftermath: Logs, Mud & Propane Tanks 14:14 — Next: East Coast & the Southwest 15:47 — Two Towns, One River SOURCES National Weather Service Tennessee Valley Authority Fannin County Emergency Management Agency McCaysville Police Department Georgia Department of Natural Resources Local 3 News NewsChannel 9 WTVC WATE 6 Atlanta News First 11Alive WSB-TV FOX 5 Atlanta FOX Weather