Flood Waters Still Plague South Georgia

It could be weeks for residents in three southeast Georgia counties to recover from flooding of the Satilla River--that's the word from county officials. Emergency officials in Pierce, Ware, and Brantley counties say nearly 50 families have been displaced, with their homes likely uninhabitable. Flood waters were finally receding yesterday, but damage remains in the region.

In extreme south Georgia, flood waters from the Withlacoochee River have begun to roll back in some areas of Lowndes County. The National Weather Service is forecasting the river may finally fall below flood stage sometime on Friday. Numerous road closures remain in the county and the Valdosta-area.

South Georgia Deals With Flooding

At least two dozen families have been evacuated, with 30 to 50 homes impacted by flood waters in the Valdosta-area. The Withlacoochee River is still the concern this morning, following multiple inches of heavy and soaking rains over the past 10 days in south Georgia. Forecasters say the river crested over the weekend, but still remains about five feet above flood stage. Buzz Weiss with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency says one concern of state emergency officials is protecting the water treatment plant in the Valdosta-area. However, city officials stress that drinking water is safe for residents. Lowndes County emergency officials say with numerous road and bridge closures, people should not travel unless absolutely necessary.

Major Flooding Concern For Parts Of South Georgia

Several days of heavy rains have brought bad--and good news--to Georgia. Parts of the state, especially to the south, have received well over a foot of rain--a good bit of that over the past 36 hours.

And the immediate concern for those residents today is flooding. At least two sections of major rivers in the region are forecast to reach major flood stage. The Satilla River near Waycross had already hit the 20-foot "major flood" mark by early afternoon. To the west, in Lowndes County near the state line, the Withlacoochee River is also expected to reach "major flood status"—near 25 feet.

Paige Dukes is with Lowndes County:

"Right now I’m sort of right in the middle of the city, and I grew up just a couple of blocks from where we have some of the most significant flooding and it’s been common for the water to come up over a bridge in the area several times over probably the last 20 or 30 years. But, we have a lot of long time residents in the area and everyone’s saying they’ve never seen the water get this high."

Many roads in south Georgia are closed to traffic due to flooding, and about two dozen school systems were closed today.

Meanwhile, the massive rainfall has now busted the drought for most of Georgia. State climatologist David Stooksbury says the southern two-thirds of the state Georgia have now stepped-out out of drought. Earlier this week, Stooksbury removed the drought designation from most of north Georgia. The only exceptions remain the Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell basins, which are still classified as in moderate drought.