Thousand Homes, Cars Submerged Floods in Georgia! Severe Flooding Hammers MyCaysville

Thunderstorms caused record flooding overnight in twin towns straddling the Georgia-Tennessee border, submerging some buildings to their rooflines on Thursday as emergency responders rescued dozens of people. The storms dropped heavy rain across a mountainous area that drains into the Toccoa River between McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee, causing life-threatening flooding on both sides. The Toccoa then flows into the Ocoee River, where the Tennessee Valley Authority was managing high water levels at three of its hydroelectric dams. As much as 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimeters) fell overnight between the north Georgia towns of Blue Ridge and Ellijay, and runoff from uncontrolled streams swelled the rivers below, according to the TVA. The Toccoa River reached a record high Thursday morning of 18 feet (5.5 meters), according to a river gauge in Copperhill, where fewer than 500 people live across from McCaysville, home to about 1,000. Copperhill officials urged people to take shelter in either town’s City Hall as the river reached 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the level forecasters consider “catastrophic.” At least 57 people were rescued by swift water teams before the floodwaters began to recede, according to the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency in Georgia, which warned people that flooded areas remain dangerous well after the rain stops. The Tennessee Emergency Management Authority said it had coordinated 68 rescues by swift water teams. #flooding #storm