Flash Flood — Cobb, Georgia

2005-07-11 · near Countywide, Cobb, Georgia

Event narrative

Extensive flooding was reported across much of Cobb county and was on par with the flood damage reported in Douglas County. Rainfall across the county averaged 8-10 inches, but some areas received as much as a foot or more of rain from late afternoon on July 10th through the early morning hours of the 11th. Flood levels reached 100-year levels in many areas of the county. One resident even reported that the water reached a 500-year flood level according to flood certification papers they had received. Some parts of the county were under as much as six feet of water. Dozens of homes were flooded with water up to a foot deep in some homes, damaging homes and ruining personal possessions and belongings inside. The Red Cross estimated a combined total of 700 damaged homes between Douglas and Cobb counties. In Cobb county, at least 100 of these were outside the flood plane. Severeal businesses also sustained major flooding, with damage to government property alone estimated at $2.3 million dollars. The Clay Road Baptist Church was completely flooded, with water more than half-way up the walls of the structure. Dozens of roads and some bridges were washed out, including Malone Road, of which about 50 feet collapsed when flood waters washed out supporting 60-inch storm water culvert. A 12-inch water main was also washed out during the incident. A number of vehicles were also submerged or became stranded in flood waters. All together, 38 roads in the county had to be closed. Rescues were required in various areas of the county, many by boat. Several people had to be rescued from the Old Fashioned Foods Building in Austell during the height of the flooding. National Weather Service river gages indicated extensive flooding of creeks and streams across Cobb county as rainfall of 8 to 10 inches was widespread across all the southern portions of the county and 6 to 8 inches across the north. Noses Creek on Powder Springs Road near Powder Springs rose to a new gage height of 19.1 feet by 330 pm on the 11th. Nickajack Creek near U.S. Highway 78/278 near Mableton reached a record gage height of 16.6 feet. Both stages exceeded that reported during Hurricane Ivan on September 17, 2004. In addition, Sope Creek in Marietta rose above its flood stage 12.0 feet at 548 am EDT, crested at 15.2 feet at 930 am EDT, and fell below flood stage at 211 pm EDT. As with Douglas County, damages were estimated at at least $6,000,000.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5468116. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.