Lanier at record lowest seasonal level

Lake Lanier. Click on the map for a full-sized image. (Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Hurricane Ike and other recent storms that've swept the region didn't leave as much water behind in Lake Lanier as water officials had hoped. In fact, it's the lowest Lanier has even been for this time of year.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials says that while tropical storm Fay did bring up the level to just over 1055 feet, that's still 17 feet below normal full pool - 1,071 feet.

In addition, officials say they’re expecting a dry winter.

Click here for more GPB News ongoing drought coverage.

Storm spawns sinkhole in So. Georgia

Officials say a large sinkhole has opened up in south Georgia beneath floodwaters dumped by Tropical Storm Fay. Plantation Woods, off U.S. 19 south of Thomasville, was partially flooded by storm runoff a week ago. Late Thursday, the sinkhole began to open up and was estimated on Friday at 50 feet wide by 50 feet deep. Witnesses say the sink hole sucked in water and several trees as it came within 10 feet of a nearby house.

Heavy rainfall is big benefit to Lanier

The heavy rainfall in north Georgia earlier this week was very good to area lakes and reservoirs. In particular, the region's Lake Lanier got much-needed help from the skies--its level rose more than two feet from only Sunday. The rainfall over the period equates to over 22-billion gallons of additional water for the reservoir. However, Lanier still remains around 15-feet below full. The reservoir is metro Atlanta's main source of drinking water.

Meanwhile, rainfall from the remnants of tropical storm Fay flooded portions of the state the past week, calling for Governor Sonny Perdue to announce emergency declarations for seven south Georgia counties. National weather service officials say Thomasville in southwest Georgia received the most rainfall from the storm--over 27 inches.

Flood watch through tonight

North Georgia is still recovering from waves of driving rain as the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay rumbled through today. Fay snarled traffic, swelled rivers and brought a much needed drenching to the drought-stricken state. A flood watch is in effect for the northern half of the state through tonight. The National Weather Service says no major flooding has been reported. The drenching has helped Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's main water supply, surge more than 4 inches in the span of a day.

Fay's toll on pecans, turtles

Tropical Storm Fay has hit Georgia’s pecan crop. While no numbers are yet reported, the storm's high wind and torrential rain seemed to take the heaviest toll on Georgia's $128 million pecan crop. Hardest-hit counties are in the south along the Florida line. Pecan trees are vulnerable because they're loaded with immature nuts and foliage.

Meanwhile there may be good news for turtles hit by Tropical Storm Fay - -the storm destroyed fewer loggerhead sea turtle nests than experts feared. Biologists and volunteers scoured Georgia’s 100-miles shoreline of the weekend. They say 8% of the threatened species’ nests were lost from the storm’s surging tides. Turtles in nearly half of those had already hatched out.

'Fay' rain might boost north Georgia

Drought-ravaged north Georgia could be in for major relief over the next 24-36 hours.

"It’s hard to bust a drought with one event but we have a potential to put a pretty big dent in it".

Matt Sena of the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City says already this morning, the remnants of tropical storm Fay have paid dividends. 2-3 inches of rain has been recorded at the upper end of the Chattahoochee River Basin--by Lake Lanier.

Sena says the 3-5 inches of rain that could fall across most of north Georgia by Tuesday night would be different than recent summertime patterns for the region.

"During the summer months we’ll see a 3-4 inch rainfall amount out of some of these thunderstorms but it will be a very isolated area so it doesn’t produce a lot of runoff into the mainstream rivers. This type of event gives us a potential to see that over a widespread area which would put a lot of water into our streams and rivers, and hopefully eventually into some of our reservoirs".

Most of north Georgia is under a flash flood watch through Tuesday night.

Fay's rains were heavy in Florida late last week into the weekend, and brought several inches of heavy rain to south Georgia into and through the past weekend as well.

'Fay' leftovers could help north Georgia

North Georgia is expected to get a heavy dose of much-needed rain over the next few days in the wake of tropical storm Fay and its slow move across the southeastern U.S. Some forecasters say up to 10 inches of rain could fall in some areas of north Georgia through Wednesday. There is a flash flood watch that will go in effect later this afternoon for the region. Residents in south Georgia are dealing with the massive amounts of rainfall that began into the past weekend--some areas were said to have received up to 15 inches. There was one Georgia death tied to the storm--a Grady County boy died while playing near a drainage ditch as he was overcome by rushing waters.

Georgia corn farmers watching Tropical storm Fay

As a result of Tropical Storm fay, Moultrie in the Southeastern part of the state could get 8 inches of rain. The storm has been unpredictable so far, and for farmers it could prove to be a good thing or a bad thing.
Over the last several months farmers in South Georgia have struggled with a lack of rain. Now they could get too much. Wind could also be a problem. Corn farmers are particularly concerned because it's time to harvest their crops. Glenn Beard is the Colquitt County Extension Agent in Moultrie.

"You have corn that's completely dried down now, and when it dries down it loses all it's structural integrity of the stalk that will hold it up. It doesn't really take that much wind to knock it over. And when it knocks it over it is either going to be very difficult to pick it up with a combine, or maybe not even be able to harvest it at all."

Georgia farmers increased corn production this year due to higher demand and rising prices spurred on by ethanol production.
The storm could turn out to be a blessing if they get just the right amount to fill ponds and replenish groundwater.

'Fay' may have hurt coastal turtles

Tropical storm Fay’s trek through south Georgia might have had an adverse effect on the state’s loggerhead sea turtle nests.

It's already expected to be a record nesting season for the state and federally-protected loggerhead--officials predict a total of nearly 16-hundred nests to be recorded.

It's now in the middle of hatching season. But because of the rough weather on the coast the past two days, the fear is many of those nests may have been destroyed. Mark Dodd heads the sea turtle program for the Department of Natural Resources.

"Tide has been much higher than predicted and there’s been a bit of a storm surge. We have some preliminary reports from some of the barrier islands and it appears some nests have been affected but we really don’t know to what extent at this point".

Dodd says he expects sea turtle interns and technicians to hit the beaches over the weekend to begin to survey the possible damage to the nests.

UPDATE-'Fay' affect on southern Georgia

Tropical storm warning is in effect through Friday night for Georgia's coast.

Flash flood and flood watches in effect for southeast, south-central and southwest Georgia through Friday night.

Wind advisories are in effect for much of central and southeast Georgia through Saturday night.

Rainfall amounts across south Georgia could reach 10 inches in some areas. Wind gusts this morning have been reported to be hitting the 30 mph range.

School closings for Friday:

- Camden County schools
- Glynn County schools
- McIntosh County schools
- Valdosta city schools
- Benedictine Military School

Tropical Storm Fay could hurt Georgia farmers

As Tropical Storm Fay makes its way through South Georgia, farmers there are doing the best they can to save their crops.
Farmers in Southwest Georgia ran combines through the night to get their corn out of the fields. Tropical Storm Fay is bringing heavy winds and rain to the area. High winds can topple corn stalks and heavy rains can cause plants to rot in the fields.
With higher corn prices brought on by ethanol production, Georgia farmers planted over 300-thousand acres this year. A cool spring and a hot, dry summer has already hurt this year's crop. A flood could make the situation much worse.
This years crop could bring in more than 200-million dollars for Georgia's farmers, and much of that crop is grown in South Georgia.

UPDATED-School closings due to 'Fay'

These schools and school systems are closed today, Friday Aug. 22nd, due to the effects of Tropical storm Fay:

- Camden County schools
- Glynn County schools
- McIntosh County schools
- Valdosta city schools
- Benedictine Military School

Fay's outer bands affecting south Georgia

Tropical storm Fay is bringing rain, sometimes heavy, to many portions of south Georgia this morning. Forecasters warn of winds gusting up to 30-40 mph from Fay’s outer bands, as the storm makes its slow trek through north-central Florida into the panhandle. Depending on the area of southern Georgia, rainfall amounts could tally above five inches.

Friday school closings

Southeast Georgia counties are preparing for bad weather from Tropical Storm Fay. Today McIntosh and Camden counties closed schools. Lowndes County Schools and Valdosta City Schools will be closed tomorrow due to weather conditions. The LHS football scrimmage scheduled for 7:00 Friday evening against Thomas County Central is rescheduled for Saturday at 6:00 pending weather. LHS Summer Graduation for Saturday morning has been canceled.

Fay still a threat to Georgia--update

Flooding and high winds are still conditions that could impact coastal Georgia over the next several hours into Friday.

State emergency officials are watching the movement of Tropical storm Fay closely. Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency says they’ve received new estimates on a storm track and possible rainfall.

"By midnight perhaps it might be enough inland and start impacting and providing rain to some of our southern tier of counties...and probably midnight Saturday or so, it might be over by Chattahoochee River. Possible amounts of maybe 4-8 inches of rain along the bottom tier of counties...3-6 maybe a little more inland and isolated areas. And there’s a remote or low possibility of isolated tornadoes as this thing moves inland".

Davis says emergency officials with several southeast Georgia counties were on a GEMA conference call this morning for the latest.

How the storm turns may affect school closures for Friday. Systems in Camden and McIntosh counties were closed today.

'Fay' closes two SE Ga school systems

Schools in Camden and McIntosh counties were closed Thursday, ahead of expected heavy rains and wind in southeast Georgia. Tropical Storm Fay continues to threaten Georgia's entire 100-mile coastline--a flood watch is in effect for counties in southeast Georgia through late Friday. Current predictions are for 3-6 inches of rain. The storm could also bring strong winds, causing localized flooding and power outages. As of Thursday morning, Fay was nearly stationary in the Atlantic off Florida's coast near Daytona. Forecasters expect the storm to eventually move west-northwest during the day.

Tropical Storm Fay update

Officials in southeast Georgia are closely watching Tropical Storm Fay and its movement. As of early Thursday morning the storm was nearly stationary off Florida’s coast near Daytona Beach. A tropical storm warning does extend along the Georgia coast--in addition, there is a flood watch in place for much of the southeast Georgia area through late Friday. The main threat of Fay right now is heavy rainfall and torrential downpours with high wind gusts.

Stay with GPB radio for continuing updates on the storm and its movement. You can also get news updates from our website--gpb.org--and by oing to the Georgia News blog.

Hurricane Watch: Tropical Storm Faye UPDATE

South Georgia could be in-line for some effects of Tropical Storm Fay. A hurricane watch is now posted for a 150-mile stretch of coastline from Florida to Georgia. The storm has followed an erratic path--forecasters say it could linger along the coast and pick-up strength before turning back toward Florida, and perhaps becoming a hurricane. Some projections right now indicate 10 to 20 inches of rain could fall over portions of southern Georgia.

Stay tuned to GPB for continuing updates on the storm on our radio network, and through our Georgia News blog accessed through our website--gpb.org

Tropical storm could bring Georgia heavy rain

Drought-stricken north Georgia could see a good dose of rain later this week, courtesy of what’s happening now in the Atlantic. Tropical Storm Fay has already hit Cuba, and is setting its sights on the Florida Keys. The storm could get hurricane status later today. Much needed rain for Georgia could arrive later this week. Current projections have the storm moving into south Georgia by the early morning hours of Thursday. The parched area of north Georgia could experience strong rainfall later Thursday into Friday.