By EMILIE MEGNIEN Associated Press
McCAYSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — 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.
With floodwaters receding by afternoon, residents returned to find piles of debris and the contents of businesses scattered or ruined.
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.”
“It’s a little bit heartbreaking,” said Hugh Rogers, who has owned McCaysville Drug & Gun since 1997.
Rogers said he got a call around 2:30 a.m. Thursday that the water was rising, and when he arrived at the store about an hour later, the water inside was about 4 or 5 feet (1.2 or 1.5 meters) deep, knocking over shelves and destroying about $200,000 or $300,000 worth of inventory.
But Rogers said he considers himself luckier than others whose homes were damaged, and that family, friends and coworkers were planning to “come out strong” on Friday to help him clean up.
“It’s been our livelihood for 30 years, so we’re going to do what we can to keep it going,” he said.
Some buildings were submerged to their rooflines early Thursday as rescue crews in red boats and motorized rafts navigated through the deep, rushing water flowing over downtown streets. Emergency personnel also went house to house and searched overhead with a helicopter and drones for anyone needing to be evacuated.
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.
McCaysville Police Chief Michael Earley said the water flowed over rooftops in some places, and reached about 6-7 feet (1.8-2.1 meters) high in the small downtown. “I have one of my police cars that’s floating down the river right now. Don’t know where it’s at, but it’s somewhere down there,” the chief told Fox5 Atlanta early Thursday.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury and a few residents were treated for suspected hypothermia and shock, “but from what we could tell, everybody looked to be OK,” Earley said.
The emergency response was complicated by cellphone and power outages, Earley said. The flooding also shut down the McCaysville water treatment plant, prompting a boil water advisory, and it put the city’s dump trucks and heavy equipment out of reach.
By Thursday afternoon the river had settled well into its banks again. Occasionally a chair or some other kind of debris flowed swiftly under the bridges that connect the towns. Street sweepers were working to get mud and branches off the roads.
The adjoining towns are a quaint destination for scenic railroad rides — the Blue Ridge Railway on the Georgia side and the Copperhill Special in Tennessee. Both treat tourists to river and mountain views before stopping to sample the restaurants and shops.
McCaysville’s downtown was inundated by another flood in August, damaging the police station and post office along with other businesses and residences. The renovated police building reopened just last week.
“Now here we go again,” Earley said. “A lot of people came together, and we’ve been cleaning the town for the past few months. We’re getting ready for Christmas, a lot of McCaysville events, our Christmas parade. So it’s devastating.”
It’s crazy to be hit with two such damaging floods in just three months, the chief said. “I don’t know what God is trying to tell me.”
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Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this story,.