It's been a soggy couple of days in North Georgia, and if forecasters are right, the wet weather will stick around through at least Thursday - maybe even into Friday morning.
For now, a flash flood watch issued by the National Weather Service remains in place for 90 Georgia counties, most of those in the northern and central part of the state.
WDUN meteorologist John Wetherbee said Tuesday this storm system is different from others the area has seen lately because it's lingering.
"There's no big storms, there's no real gray clouds, there's no clap of thunder," Wetherbee said. "It's just that the rain began and it just continues for hours and hours, adding up into several inches of rain."
That said, there was a burst of rain just before 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4 that hit the Gainesville area, causing some significant flooding.
Hall County Emergency Managment Agency & Homeland Security Director Casey Ramsey said the downpour dumped three to four inches of rain in some places. Ramsey said the following roads were closed for a few hours until the water subsided.
- Chestatee Road at Pearl Nix Parkway
- 1300 block of Cumberland Drive
- 1700 Block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Wessell Road at Dixon Drive
- Limestone Parkway at Huntington Drive
- 600 block of Bradford Street
- Race Street between Jesse Jewell Parkway and College Avenue
- High Street at Pine Street
"We are expecting additional rainfall over the next 48 hours that could result in an additional four to six inches," Ramsey said in an email statement Tuesday moring. "Road maintenance crews will continue to monitor conditions and perform storm water drainage clearing throughout this event in order to best mitigate the potential for additional flash flooding that may occur."
Chris Rotalsky, the Director of Public Works for the City of Gainesville, said his crews were scrambling to clear blocked drains on Monday evening.
"[Also] we had several traffic signals that were affected by the weather from power outages and wind causing signal heads to turn out of alignment," Rotalsky said. "There was also a tree which fell on Riverside Drive that required streets crews to clear the roadway."
Ramsey also issued a reminder about the Turn Around, Don’t Drown initiative, reminding drivers who encounter flooded roadways not to drive through standing water.
"Six inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It only takes 12 inches of rushing water to carry away most cars and just two feet of rushing water can carry away SUVs and trucks," Ramsey said.
Hall County residents can sign up for emergency weather notifications at alerts.hallcounty.org.
For additional details on the Flash Flood Watch issued by the National Weather Service, follow this link.
