David Glenn

By Adam Crisp and Andy Diffenderfer

Widespread flooding has left some Walker County, Ga., residents unsure when they will be able to return to their homes.

Power outages and downed trees have added to the misery brought by the recent torrential downpours, said Walker County Coordinator David Ashburn.

"It's everywhere," he said, and more drenching rain may be coming.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter at Walker County Civic Center in Rock Spring for those chased from their homes by the flooding rains. Several residents at the shelter from Brown Estates townhomes, just off U.S. Highway 27 in LaFayette, Ga., said they don't know when they will be able to return after downpours caused varying degrees of damage to units there.

"We don't know what we are going to do," said Terry Brown, who was there with his wife, Chasady, his mother, Bobbie Brown, and her fiancée, Melvin Thomas.

After viewing storm damage in Douglas and Paulding counties from the air, Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in 17 counties affected by heavy rain and severe weather that passed through Georgia. The counties are Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens and Walker counties.

Across the region, the rain brought travel to a halt and posed serious threat to life and property.

In Chattanooga, one man was presumed dead after a bizarre accident on 23rd Street in which he was sucked into a culvert as floodwater engulfed the street. Rescue workers still had not recovered his body Monday evening.

In Trion, Ga., 300 people evacuated and another 300 were preparing to flee as emergency workers feared the concrete dam holding back the Chattooga River might breach.

A boy went missing in the fast-moving, muddy waters of the Chattooga River. Another boy who had been in the water with him was rescued earlier.

No one was injured in a mudslide near Covenant College caused by heavy rain. The entrances to the college were still accessible and classes went on as scheduled, officials said.

In LaFayette, at Brown Estates, the rain flooded living rooms, stalled cars, backed up sewage, floated garbage and brought with it unwanted visitors such as frogs and snakes, the family said. Their landlord, they said, put residents up for a night at the local Days Inn.

"I've never experienced such natural carnage," said Mr. Thomas, a customer service representative. "It was a continuous flow of water that just ebbed and flowed."

"It was like living under Niagara Falls and not being able to get out from under it," said Bobbie Brown, who works at Morning Point Assisted Living in Collegedale. "That water was taking everything in its path."

She said the rain turned a 45-minute drive home from work into a four-hour marathon.

In Chickamauga, Ga., a submerged section of Lee and Gordon Mill Road near U.S. 27 didn't keep some motorists from attempting to cross, though a majority turned around and headed back.

RAIN BREAKS RECORDS

The two-day rain total at the Chattanooga airport topped 6.78 inches Monday afternoon. A one-day record for Sept. 21 rainfall was topped with 3.41 inches. The seven-day total was 9.51 inches, said David Glenn, chief meteorologist for WTVC-TV NewsChannel 9.

Today, residents should expect some relief, but the storm still has more rain to drop, Mr. Glenn said.

"We went from having a 6-inch rain deficit a week ago to having a 2-inch surplus today for the year," Mr. Glenn said. "We are still going to be dealing with occasional showers and thundershowers, however. We still have to watch this (today), but I think by (this) evening it should begin to taper off, and by Wednesday we will have fewer showers and perhaps a few peeks of sunshine."

All local forecasters and the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn., are keeping rain in the outlook for the rest of the week.

SEARCH CONTINUES, HAVOC ON ROADS

More heavy rainfall is hindering search efforts for a man presumed dead after heavy water swept him away Sunday night.

Two men were holding onto a chain link fence near 2310 E. 14th St. about 6 p.m. to keep from being swept into the culvert after wading in high water near a storm drain, officials said.

Firefighters and paramedics rescued one man, but the other man was pulled down into a flooded culvert.

The fire department worked with the city's Public Works Department to determine the flow of culverts and sewers and planned to send men or cameras down into sewers and culverts to try to locate the body, said Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner.

"Our search efforts are being hampered by the additional rainfall that we're getting overnight and today," Mr. Garner said this morning.

EAST RIDGE EVACUATIONS

Neighbors on Maxwell Road in East Ridge are holding their breath this morning as floodwater creeps close to front-door thresholds beyond manicured front yards already consumed by muddy floodwater.

Despite optimism and prayers, the news is not good. Chickamauga Creek hadn't yet swollen to its fullest on Monday, and only today after about 8 a.m. can the neighbors know exactly what damage will be caused by the threatening creek levels. The creek is supposed to crest at 23 feet today. It was just at 18 feet Monday afternoon, officials said.

"We've just been sitting out here since last night," said Hollie Williams as she watched water rise within inches of her front door. "We could go stay with our relatives, but we'd just worry about what was happening. We are lucky we have neighbors that will let us watch from their front yard."

She was one of 10 or so East Ridge residents who had evacuated Monday -- some by fire department boat -- and one of hundreds throughout the area who fled their homes as the worst flooding in nearly six years soaked the area.

RIVERS CRESTING TODAY

Over the weekend, the Tennessee Valley Authority opened its floodgates to spill water through seven of its 29 dams because of heavy rains across its seven-state region.

But TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci said the utility does not expect any flooding problems on area reservoirs and lakes from this week's rains.

"The flooding we're seeing is largely localized, and we don't anticipate any problems across the Valley," Ms. Martocci said. "The heaviest rains were in the Ocoee and Hiwassee (rivers), but there was still more rainfall in the past five days west of Chattanooga than there was east of Chattanooga."

TVA opened floodgates Sunday and Monday at three storage reservoirs in East Tennessee and at the four dams on the Tennessee River downstream of Chattanooga to help move more water from rain-soaked areas of the Tennessee Valley.

FAST-MOVING FLOODS

Homes close to Chickamauga Creek saw floodwaters rise quickly.

Ringgold resident John Byram says an occasional flooded driveway is nothing unusual since his home abuts the flood-prone creek, but recent flooding sent water close to his home very quickly.

"This morning I went out for coffee and when I came back it was 6 inches deep. Less than 30 minutes later it was up to 8 inches," Mr. Byram said.

Ringgold, Ga., resident Susan Parton and son Ty Larosh, who were kayaking the swollen creek only two days ago, were among the residents trying to drive through downtown Ringgold Monday only to be rerouted.

"I've lived here all my life and it has always flooded here when it rains like this," Ms. Parton said.

The Greater Chattanooga Area Red Cross has evacuated about 81 people from Battlewood Apartments in Fort Oglethorpe.

Spokeswoman Claudia Moore said the Red Cross has a shelter in Constitution Hall in Fort Oglethorpe as well as one on North Moore Road in Brainerd.

"We are expecting even more folks in the coming days and will stay open as long as necessary," she said.

These floods now qualified for the American Red Cross National Disaster Fund as the damage is expected to exceed $10,000, Ms. Moore said.

GEORGIA, ALABAMA DEATHS

Heavy rains and floods are blamed for six deaths elsewhere in Georgia and Alabama.

In Carroll County, southwest of Atlanta, a 2-year-old boy was swept from his father's arms Monday after the family's wrecked mobile home was torn in two by raging river water.

The storms were blamed for four other deaths in Georgia and one in Alabama.

Staff writers Alex Chambliss, Dave Flessner, Kevin Hardy, Andy Johns, Jacqueline Koch and correspondent Karen Phillips contributed to this story.

AREA'S WORST FLOODS

Chattanooga's worst flooding occurred in the years before the Tennessee Valley Authority build its system of reservoirs and dams. Here are the highest waters in the city's history:

* March 1867 -- The largest flood in city history crested at 58 feet, 27.9 feet above flood stage, inundating downtown.

* March 1875 -- The Tennessee River crested at 23.5 feet above flood stage.

* April 1886 -- More than 4,000 homeless residents were taken by boats to higher ground at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The river crested at 22.3 feet above flood stage.

* March 1917 -- The river crested at 17.7 feet above flood stage. Many homes, businesses were inundated.

* March 1973 -- More than 10,000 acres, much of that in Brainerd, were under water after about 10 inches of rain. The river crested at 6.9 feet above flood stage, and damage citywide was estimated at $66.6 million.

* May 2003 -- Three days of thunderstorm runoff damages an estimated 480 buildings in city's worst flooding since 1973.

* September 2009 -- Seven days of showers dumped nearly 10 inches of rain on the area, threatening homes as a Trion, Ga., levee came close to breach and homes in low-lying areas were threatened.

Sources: TVA, newspaper archives, catskillarchive.com

FAST FACT

Nearly half of all flood-related deaths are vehicle related.

Source: National Weather Service

FLOODING TIPS

* If flooding occurs, get to higher ground. Avoid areas subject to flooding, including dips, low spots, canyons and washes.

* Avoid areas that already are flooded. Do not attempt to cross flowing streams.

* Never drive through flooded roadways.

* If your vehicle is suddenly caught in rising water, leave it immediately and seek higher ground.

* Be especially cautious at night, when it is harder to recognize flood dangers

Source: National Weather Service