Published Thursday, September 24, 2009

River crests at a record 29.84 feet

The Newnan Times-Herald

Floodwaters from the Chattahoochee River that forced some northwest Coweta County residents from their homes should be receding and are expected to drop below flood stage by Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.

The river reached a new record high of 29.84 feet Wednesday morning at Whitesburg and remained near that level most of the day. Despite the water coming within several feet of the new Highway 16/27 Alternate bridge over the Chattahoochee, the bridge remained open throughout this week's flood event. The bridge links Coweta and Carroll counties.

The flooding came after a weekend of heavy rain that started Friday in north Georgia, including precipitation totals topping 15 inches upstream in areas of Carroll, Douglas, Cobb and Paulding counties.

The river appeared to be cresting Wednesday afternoon at the Whitesburg observation point, and the level was expected to begin falling slowly by Wednesday night.

The flow should drop below flood stage of 15 feet by early afternoon Friday, according to weather service officials. A flood warning should remain in effect until Friday evening, they said.

The 29.8-foot crest exceeds the old record of 29.1 feet on Dec. 11, 1919.

The measurements provided to the weather service are taken by crews from U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS has had crews this week measuring the historic flooding in many parts of Georgia, especially in north Georgia and the Atlanta region.

USGS reported Wednesday afternoon that the agency has deployed field crews to help repair more than 20 streamgages that were destroyed from the flooding. Crews were rushing to install temporary gages and make streamflow measurements to provide real-time flood information to emergency managers.

In Georgia, there are about 300 USGS-operated streamgages that measure water levels, streamflow and rainfall. The information is used for numerous purposes, including public safety and flood forecasting by the National Weather Service. More than 50 streamgage stations had measurements above flood stage.