Flash Flood — Emanuel, Georgia

2018-07-29 · near Garfield, Emanuel, Georgia

Event narrative

Fire Chief reported failure of a small dam, washing out a 20 foot section of Gray Mule Farm Road near Johnson Gay Road in Garfield. The dam was located about 0.45 miles northeast of the washout location, embedded within woods. Two people were injured when a pickup truck encountered the washed out section of the road. One was air lifted to Augusta with serious injuries.

Wider weather episode

Stationary front draped over Georgia confined a plume of deep moisture over central and southern portions of the state. Afternoon heating kicked off thunderstorm development, with a large area of storms over east central Georgia lasting into the late evening hours. Rainfall amounts ranged from 2 to 5 inches, with 3 to 4 inches occurring over eastern Emanuel county and into neighboring Jenkins county. High rainfall rates caused damage to a small dam, causing the failure of the dam and significant damage to the road just downstream.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.6400, -82.0700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 776513. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.