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A foot of rain submerges parts of Fayette

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Hurricane Dennis was indeed a menace, pouring 6.38 inches of rain on the Peachtree City area in an 18-hour period beginning 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. That deluge is just part of a foot of rainfall that fell in western Fayette County over a six-day span.

To escape flood waters, five people “and numerous pets” had to be evacuated by boat from the Tinsley Mill Village condominiums near City Hall before dawn Monday, said Peachtree City Assistant Fire Chief Ed Eiswerth.

Tinsley Mill has traditionally had severe flooding issues during heavy rains, but this is the fastest Eiswerth has seen the water rise in the area.

“It was even worse than the flood in ‘94,” Eiswerth said, referring to the historic deluge that washed out numerous roads and bridges in this area.

City staff estimated that half of the cart path system was underwater, largely due to its various locations in low-lying areas, said Public Works Director Tom Corbett. Many places on the path system may remain impassable until city workers can get to them.

The rainfall, added to totals from Wednesday’s rains from tropical storm Cindy, resulted in the city getting more than a foot of rain in six days, Corbett added.

Rain from Sunday night and Monday morning also forced several city roads to be closed due to water pooling across the roadway. Flood water filled the cart path tunnel under Crosstown Road and spilled onto the roadway, causing it to be shut down Monday morning between Wendy’s restaurant and the Braelinn Village shopping center, Corbett said. The road was re-opened early Tuesday afternoon.

The golf cart tunnel may not hold up, but that won’t be known until after the water recedes, Corbett noted.

A water pipe burst on Carriage Lane during the storm, washing out some of the roadway there, Corbett said. The road remained closed Tuesday so repairs could be made. Rockaway Road to Senoia was originally closed Monday morning but was reopened later in the afternoon.

Smokerise Trace near 222 Smokerise was also closed Monday morning and re-opened early Tuesday afternoon. Part of Kedron Drive was also shut down Monday morning but re-opened later in the afternoon.

Most of the drenching rains came Monday between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., when 3.89 inches of rain were recorded by the NWS office in Peachtree City, said meteorologist Eric Avila.

The storm began lightly, with .65 inches of rain between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, Avila said. Another 1.84 inches was recorded in the next six-hour period before the big downpour that began at 2 a.m., he added.

Although the rain band that hit Peachtree City kept moving, it also kept the city in its path by traveling in a south-to-north pattern instead of an east-west pattern, Avila said.

Peachtree City’s grand total of 6.38 inches of rain was the largest in metro Atlanta, as the city of Atlanta got 5.38 inches, Avila said. The only area with a greater amount of precipitation in the same period was near south Georgia as Taylor and Marion counties recorded eight inches, he added.

In addition to flooded roads and cart paths, waters from the rains also deluged the Flat Creek Golf Club, making many fairways impassable. Gawkers stopped Monday morning near the bridge over what is normally a tiny creek but which had become raging clay-colored water under the bridge and across the course.

The fire department’s dive team remained on active alert Monday in case they were needed, Eiswerth said.

Last week, Peachtree City teen Danen Clarke was killed after he jumped into water that pooled up at a culvert next to City Hall in an attempt to save a friend who went under. Officials have warned citizens to stay away from flooded areas because they can be extremely dangerous.

Corbett said it could take a while for the storm-water to drain away because it flows to Line Creek and Flat Creek, which were already full due to the rains, both from the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy Wednesday night and Hurricane Dennis Sunday night and Monday morning.

The spillway for Lake Peachtree, located on McIntosh Trail, was a popular place for spectators to come watch the forceful rushing water produced by the hurricane, Corbett said.

“All they need down there is a hot dog wagon and an ice cream stand and you’ve got a full-fledged tourist attraction,” Corbett said.

The lake became so full that Picnic Park, behind City Hall and just off Lake Peachtree, was completely underwater Monday, Corbett added. Lake Peachtree serves as a water reservoir for the Fayette County Water System.

Willowbend Road and part of Kedron Drive near Capstone Court were briefly closed Monday morning also due to flooding. Both had reopened by the afternoon.