Georgia-Tennessee Towns Turn to Recovery After ‘1,000-Year’ Flood Forces More Than 100 Rescues

McCAYSVILLE, Ga., Nov. 8 (TodayViralUSA) — Georgia officials said Sunday that the response to last week’s catastrophic flooding along the Georgia-Tennessee line is shifting from rescue to recovery, with more than 100 people pulled from floodwaters and no timeline yet for restoring a damaged water treatment plant.

The National Weather Service described the event as a 1,000-year flood. Rainfall across the mountain watershed around the twin towns of McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee, measured 10.28 inches over six hours and 11.19 inches over 12 hours into Thursday morning, The Associated Press reported.

Buildings submerged to their rooflines

The downpours sent the Toccoa River — known as the Ocoee once it crosses into Tennessee — surging through both downtowns overnight Wednesday, submerging some buildings to their rooflines. When the water receded Thursday afternoon, residents returned to piles of debris and ruined businesses. The Tennessee Valley Authority managed high water at its hydroelectric dams downstream on the Ocoee.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the storm produced historically high water levels on the Ocoee near Copperhill. A USGS team repaired the streamgage there, but the peak stage was not recorded, and further surveying will be needed to confirm a record crest.

103 rescues and a long recovery

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Nov. 5 for Fannin, Gilmer, Murray and Union counties. The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said in a Sunday update that there had been 103 reported rescues — 100 in Fannin County and three in Gilmer County.

“We are making all necessary resources available for the communities impacted by last week’s catastrophic flooding,” Kemp said.

The agency said damage assessments remain in the early stages, with priority areas including McCaysville, Fightingtown, Power Dam Road and Lick Skillet. Restoring water service is a top concern: there is currently no estimated date for the affected treatment facility to return to full operation. Officials are distributing bottled water and arranging shower and laundry trailers for residents.

What a ‘1,000-year’ flood means

The label does not mean such a flood happens once a millennium. As WSB-TV meteorologist Brian Monahan explained, an 11-inch, 24-hour rainfall total near Blue Ridge has roughly a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year.

An emergency shelter is operating at the Fannin County Recreation Multi-Purpose Center in Blue Ridge, and a donation drop-off point has been set up in McCaysville.