Flash Flood in Gilmer County, Georgia

The Gilmer County emergency manager reported a swift water rescue occurred at a home on Avery Drive in the Talona area. Several creeks in southeast Gilmer County such as Clear...Price...Fausett and Turkey Creeks flooded and washed out some roads and a few bridges. Multiple swift water rescues occurred with several evacuations of homes due to rapidly rising flood waters. Around 8 roads were either washed out or damaged...one bridge was washed out at Holt Road...around 25 structures were flooded with some washed off their foundations...8 people needed swift water rescues and 10 people were evacuated from structures. The Mountain Valley Farm Store and two large chicken houses off of Homer Wright Road were flooded and heavily damaged. It was estimated around 170,000 chickens were killed. The Georgia EPD condemned the area and had the chickens destroyed and properly buried.

The Southeast remained in an active northwest flow pattern on the 1st, with an upper level disturbance moving through the area. A weak surface trough remained in place across the state as well. Showers and thunderstorms developed early in the morning as a result of the disturbance and tropical moisture already in place over the state. A combination of back-building and training storms over the same areas caused intense rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches in less than 8 hours. This caused significant flash flooding in Pickens and Gilmer counties of north Georgia.