Thousands in Northwest Georgia without water after flood
An aerial view of Summerville, the North Georgia town where a flood damaged the water treatment plant over the weekend. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
Thousands of households in North Georgia could be without water for the rest of this week after a flood over the weekend damaged the water treatment plant in the town of Summerville.
The National Weather Service estimates that up to a foot of rain — and in some places even more — fell on Summerville in just a matter of hours on Sunday. Roads, homes, businesses and the local water treatment plant were inundated.
Summerville mayor Harry Harvey said he hadn’t seen flooding like it before.
“We do have a creek that runs through, right near the downtown area, and it’s flooded occasionally but nothing ever to this extent,” he said.
He said some people had to evacuate their homes, and 8,500 households and businesses don’t have water— and probably won’t before the end of the week.
He said officials had to wait until the water receded before they could determine what repairs the plant would need.
Government agencies and non-profits are distributing bottled water and cleaning supplies. Churches in the area are helping, too.
Brandon Bishop, pastor at Central Avenue Baptist Church in the nearby town of Trion, said his church gave out 1,400 meals and 1,200 cases of water on Monday and was distributing food, water and cleaning supplies again on Tuesday.
In the meantime, people who were affected by the flooding are taking stock and beginning to clean up.
“My uncle-in-law owns a business here in town, a mattress business and all of his mattresses were destroyed,” Bishop said. “He’s been basically throwing everything out into a dumpster. And a lot of our businesses are doing that.”
Governor Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for Chattooga and Floyd Counties and is planning to visit the area Wednesday morning. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Insurance Commissioner John King warned people to be wary of home repair fraud and price gouging.
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