2009 Southeastern United States floods
The September 2009 Southeastern United States floods were a group of floods that affected several counties throughout northern Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The worst flooding occurred across the Atlanta metropolitan area. Continuous rain, spawned by moisture pulled from the Gulf of Mexico, fell faster than the local watersheds could drain the runoff. Initial damages from around the state were estimated at $250 million. On September 26, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine raised the estimated cost to $500 million with the potential for it to rise. Some 20,000 homes, businesses and other buildings received major damage and 17 Georgia counties received Federal Disaster Declarations. The flood is blamed for at least ten deaths. The floods were historic, breaking records that went back more than a century in some locations. The Chattahoochee River, the largest river in the region, measured water levels at a 500-year flood level. Beginnings Rain began falling on the Atlanta area on September 15, 2009, with the National Weather Service reporting only 0.04 inches that day at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Additional rain fell throughout the week, with only a trace amount recorded for September 18. However, a large rain event began to inundate the area on September 19. The official NWS monitoring station at the Atlanta airport recorded of rainfall from daybreak to 8pm (more than doubling the previous record for rainfall on that date), while outlying monitoring stations recorded of rainfall in a 13-hour period. Flooding began in one neighborhood that day, with the remainder of the area placed under a flash flood watch for the rest of the weekend. Effects Hundreds of people were rescued by boat from their homes, and at least ten people died, mostly in their cars by driving where water crossed the road, which motorists were repeatedly warned against on local radio and TV. The American Red Cross started emergency shelters in each county affected by the floods. Most Atlanta area school districts were closed September 21, due to floodwaters and the difficulty for school buses to get around the hundreds of closed roads. Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee rose to the highest levels since Buford Dam was built. Water levels along the river rose over the 0.2 percent chance exceedence (500-year) flood at the gage location. The River reached its second-highest level ever in Vinings at Paces Ferry Road, and would have surpassed its 1916 record were it not for the impoundment built in the 1950s. Along the river in both Vinings and Roswell, a one percent chance exceedence (100-year flood) level was measured. Peachtree Creek topped its stream gauge and the bridge itself at Northside Drive, but remained just below its 1916 record. Nancy Creek, however, did reach a record level, destroying the Peachtree-Dunwoody Road bridge. Peachtree-Dunwoody Road bridge reopened March 23, 2010. Both Peachtree Creek and Nancy Creek are tributaries of the Chattahoochee River. The western side of the Interstate 285 beltway crosses the Chattahoochee River. This section of the interstate was completely underwater for several