son-in-law , who lives in an apartment in one of the barns . After he opened the door and 3 feet of water flooded into the apartment , he called the Wellhams and told them the horses needed to be moved . See photos of flooding in Georgia '' The family scrambled , putting two horses into a trailer and hauling it to the house , then leading several show horses onto high ground behind the house , Self said . The other horses remained on two acres of unflooded pasture near Sweetwater Creek , and the family went back to the house , she said . `` They thought they 'd be fine till daylight , '' she said . But when they looked out again when it was light , the horses were in neck-deep water trying to swim to safety , Self said . A neighbor said the creek had risen at the rate of 1 foot every 20 minutes . `` We all got here and we swam out the ones that could swim out , '' she said . Though they got two horses out that way , `` we thought all five babies and
ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At least three horses -- two yearlings and a mare -- were among the victims of the flood that inundated much of Georgia Monday . Floodwaters hit the ranch of Ed and Nancy Wellham on Monday . At least three horses died there . Jerrie Self said she called her parents , Ed and Nancy Wellham , on Sunday night to warn them to prepare their 13 horses housed in two barns and pastures on their 60-acre ranch in Powder Springs , Georgia , half an hour northwest of Atlanta . `` I told them , ` You might want to start getting your stuff out of the barns ; I think it 's going to get bad , '' the 40-year-old construction finance manager told CNN in a telephone interview . `` They had no idea how fast it was gon na come . '' On Sunday night , Self 's parents , Ed , 60 , and Nancy , 59 , made sure the horses were in the barns or on high ground and then went to sleep , she said . At 3 a.m. Monday , the storm awakened their