Several areas of metro Atlanta were impacted by flooding Monday. Below is a county-by-county update. Readers and officials can send tips, news and photos to breakingnews@ajc.com.
CITY OF ATLANTA
The following numbers should be used in emergencies: Downed trees, call 404-817-6813. Flooding, call 404-658-6500. Power outages, call 888-891-0938.
4:55 p.m. Hartsfield-Jackson on Monday had intermittent ground stops halting flight arrivals for short periods, which could continue. Late Monday afternoon, some arrivals at Hartsfield-Jasckson were delayed an average of 3 hours and 42 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's Web site.
4:50 p.m. The 75/85 connector NB was closed for some time due to flooding that submerged cars and forced drivers onto the roof of their cars. GDOT was able to fix the stormdrain and its no longer flooded.
4:30 p.m. Georgia State University closing classes for tonight.
4:15 p.m. Parks and recreation are reporting a man trapped in a truck under a tree. Fire department and Georgia Forestry are on site.
3:45 p.m. A portion of the following the Atlanta parks are experiencing flooding conditions: Atlanta Memorial, Chastain, and Peachtree Hills. All of the city's ball fields are too wet for any playing of games, according to Sharon Davis, public information officer.
CARROLL COUNTY
4:45 p.m. Carroll County emergency officials confirmed that a 2-year-old was found dead in the western part of the county. Emergency officials said the toddler was found off Horsley Mill Road, an area that crested with 15 feet of water. They have also reported dozens of injuries. They've closed 20 roads that were cresting at 17-18 inches of rain and it's all hands on deck, said Tim Padgett, the Carroll County emergency management agency director. Carroll County officials have been on boats, jet skis and helicopters since last night when the rain came in and washed through people's homes as they were asleep. They have called in state officials to help with rescues.
1:30 p.m. A 2-year-old boy was found dead in Carroll County Monday afternoon after his family's mobile home was swept into a rain-swollen creek, WSB-TV is reporting. The mobile home split apart after being carried away by Snake Creek. After about three hours in the water, other family members, including a 1-year-old child, were rescued, but the 2-year-old remained missing until 1:30 p.m. Monday.
CHATTOOGA COUNTY:
4:20 p.m. The surging Chattooga River has breached a levee protecting a northwest Georgia town, according to the AP. Crews of prison inmates worked furiously Monday to shore up the levee while authorities evacuated hundreds of residents from the town of Trion, which sits near the levee. Chattooga County Emergency Management Agency Director Lamar Canada called the rising river levels "a grave situation for us." Red Cross officials set up an emergency shelter for as many as 300 people at a nearby church. Volunteers say they have already helped about 40 victims.
CHEROKEE COUNTY
4:10 p.m. Highway 92, east of I-575, is impassable with several feet of water from Noonday Creek. Police on 575 are preventing people from exiting the interstate at the Highway 92 exit. No injuries or water rescues reported in Woodstock. Towne Lake Parkway, just west of 575, has been shut down due to high water from Noonday Creek. Woodstock mayor Donnie Henriques has declared state of emergency calling in all police plus street and stormwater crews.
2:45 p.m. Flash flooding caused the closing of more than 50 roads in less than two hours Monday, and emergency personnel responded to numerous calls countywide to rescue people trapped in houses or cars surrounded by rising waters, said Robby Westbrook, Emergency Management Agency Director.
Westbrook said road closings, which started about 11 a.m. due to flooding, will continue as more rain is expected. The Etowah River was at flood stage warning in Canton at noon Monday and expected to reach 16.5 feet by Monday evening, said Canton Fire Department officials. The flood level is 16 feet.
Major road closings include Ga. 92 at Noonday Creek just past I-575 in Woodstock, and Riverstone Parkway at Ball Ground Highway in Canton. Road detours are marked, and motorists are cautioned not to drive through the barricades, Westbrook said.
Noon: Mayor Donnie Henriques has declared a state of emergency due to the hazardous weather conditions and flooding, the city announced just after noon. City government offices in Woodstock closed for the day effective about 1:30 p.m., City Clerk Rhonda Pezzello said.
COBB COUNTY:
4:10 p.m. North Cobb Christian School in Kennesaw will be closed Tuesday.
3:48 p.m. The State Court of Cobb County closed early today because of the weather, Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley confirmed.
3:40 p.m. Pope High School notified parents that afternoon buses are delayed by standing water at the entrance to the school driveway. There's a single entrance/exit from Hembree Road to the school driveway, and buses cannot enter or leave the Pope parking lot because of the drainage problem, according to a recorded call to parents from the school. The announcement said students are safe at the school for now and will go home when the road is cleared.
3:20 p.m. The road in front of Pope High School in east Cobb is closed by floodwaters, WXIA-TV is reporting. Cobb County officials are working to reopen the road but it's unclear if students will be released at the normal release time, 3:30 p.m. Parents are being asked not to drive to the school until further notice.
3 p.m. Cobb County canceled extra curricular activities for Monday, including all sports-related events. Roswell has canceled all park and recreation programs scheduled for tonight. All park buildings will close at 7 p.m. Kennesaw has also canceled all recreation programs for tonight.
2:34 p.m. The Amberwood subdivision on Acworth-Due West Road was cut off by flood waters.
Cobb is working along with the Red Cross to open a shelter to assist an approximate 150 displaced residents from Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee Counties, according to Quigley. A location will be announced this afternoon. Cobb CCT is being utilized to transport displaced residents to temporary staging areas until a shelter is opened.
County emergency crews have made numerous rescues this afternoon including during the last hour, two elderly women on Twin Creek Trail and three persons on Mountain Creek Drive near Hawkins Store Road. An additional rescue was made near Pope High School. The school is currently surrounded by water.
2:30 p.m. The Powder Springs City Council meeting scheduled for Monday night has been canceled. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Austell closed all city offices Monday because of heavy rains. Police and fire services remained active. Austell Roads that closed to through traffic included Austell-Powder Springs Road (at Legion Park), C. H. James Parway (near Norfolk-Southern Intermodal facility), Garrett Road, Hiram -- Lithia Springs Road, Humprhies Hill Road, Jones Road, Perkerson Mill Road and Westside Road.
2:26 p.m. The Acworth city Web site said phone services for police, public works and power were down. Citizens were urged to call 911 for emergencies and 770-917-8903 for power and public works problems. The Web site said Cherokee Street, Nance Road, Old McEver Road were closed.
2:12 p.m. In Marietta, downed utility lines blocked the southbound lanes of Cobb Parkway near White Circle. The public works department said at midday that the road had reopened. Allgood and Bell's Ferry Road also closed and then reopened. A neighborhood was reported flooded along Oakdale Road in the southern part of the county.
All over Cobb County, residents wondered how they would get home and what awaited them when they did arrive.
"My office has been trying to send me home since 2 p.m., but I have no home to go to," said Sherry King Castellanos, who was told her subdivision is closed off.
King Castellanos works for MUST Ministries and learned that the road to her Hardage Farm subdivision off Burnt Hickory Road in west Cobb was closed and the police were patrolling the area for flooding.
"We may have to park outside the subdivision and walk in," she said.
At least a dozen people were evacuated in Powder Springs in south Cobb because of rising water near their homes. An emergency shelter has been set up for them at the Powder Springs City Hall, county spokesman Robert J. Quigley said.
Cobb currently has 94 roads closed due to flooding and downed trees, and police are only able to respond to traffic accidents involving injuries or obstructed roadways, Quigley said. Officials are asking people to exchange information when needed with other drivers and contact police after the current storm and flooding has passed.
The county’s animal shelter is open and is accepting animals that belong to residents that have been displaced or that may need temporary shelter due to flooding, Quigley said.
COWETA COUNTY
4 p.m. The county fire department used small boats to evacuate residents in the northwest part of the county, near the Chattahoochee River. County spokeswoman Patricia Palmer said rising waters flooded a section of Payton Road as well as a bridge. Crews also closed the boat ramp to the Chattahoochee River at Carrollton Highway, Palmer said.
DEKALB COUNTY
4 p.m. The county sent out a release summarizing flood damage. 20 families were evacuated from Casa Mia Apartments near Mercer University Drive. Approximately 600 people in the county are without power. Nine families have been replaced from Drake Avenue.
8 a.m. The "Spaghetti Junction" interchange of I-285 and I-85 in DeKalb County was completely shut down by high water from before 7 a.m. until about 7:45. A few miles away, a mud slide blocked two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane on U.S. 78 at Hugh Howell Road.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
3:50 p.m. The Douglas County school board has canceled its 7 p.m. meeting tonight, according to Douglas schools spokesperson Karen Stroud.
3:45 p.m. Workers are already working to fill several low water tanks. Peter J. Frost, CEO of the water an sewer authority, said it might take at least a week before the 120,000 people impacted customers get full service again. Frost said a boil water notice will remain in effect. Frost said that the heavy rain washed away several roads and basically took the water pipes with them. Workers are now shutting off water in certain areas to divert water to the tanks.
3:30 p.m. All Douglas County schools will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, a decision regarding potential additional school closings will be made after consultation with Douglas public safety and water authority officials, said Douglas schools spokesperson Karen Stroud. Make-up dates will be determined at a later time. Twelve-month employees will report to work as usual or take leave with supervisory permission.
Authorities in Douglas County reported numerous rescues underway, and power was out along Douglas Boulevard in the area of Arbor Place Mall.
Douglas County fire and sheriff's personnel were "on the scene of multiple car floodings and lower floors of house floodings," county spokesman Tallon said before daybreak. Crews were using boats to rescue residents from low-lying homes along Berea and Pool roads.
Tallon said that Post Road just south of I-20 was "completely washed out." He said that more than 40 other roads, including Post Road just south of I-20, were closed and some washed out by flooding.
The county opened its Emergency Operations Center just before 1 a.m., Tallon said.
"The storm runoff is going at speeds higher than a person can walk through," he said. " This is a dangerous situation and Douglas County residents are requested to stay home, if possible, until conditions improve. "
Just before 6 a.m., Douglas County officials issued a "boil water" advisory for the entire county "due to multiple line breaks in the system, particularly in road washout and bridge failure areas," Tallon said.
FORSYTH COUNTY
3:30 p.m. All after school activities that require out-of-school travel, events at the central office and Academy@Night classes were canceled Monday afternoon. The school system made plans to keep and supervise students whose parents might be delayed picking them up, said Jennifer Caracciolo, school system spokeswoman.
FULTON COUNTY
4:40 p.m. Public Works has reopened a portion of Cascade for that was closed due to the recent heavy rains. Cascade Road is now open between Milano Drive and New Hope Road. Cascade Road between New Hope Road and Danforth Road remains closed due to a sinkhole near Niskey Creek. Crews have attributed the sinkhole to a leaking water main and have alerted Atlanta Watershed Management. Drivers are urged to avoid the area.
3:17 p.m. Georgia Power crews have de-energized the power line that took out a tree, trapping a school bus full of children traveling through Roswell, a utility spokeswoman said Monday afternoon. The bus was traveling near North Coleman Road and Thompson place.
The downed power line also put 2,600 customers in the dark. Power has been restored to all but 400 customers, Wallace said.
It will take at least four hours to remove the bus and tree and turn the lights back on to the rest of those customers, she said.
11:30 a.m. Cascade Driving Range on Cascade Road near I-285 is reportedly under water.
GWINNETT COUNTY
Heavy rains forced the closing Monday of dozens of roads in Gwinnett -- mostly in the Lilburn and Snellville areas, according to the county transportation department.
"We're closing roads all over the place," said Tim Quick of the Gwinnett County DOT. "It looks like we're going to be working all night. It's raining real heavy up north and we're at the bottom of it."
Some of the worst problems at about 7:30 a.m. were in the Stone Mountain area on U.S. 78 from the DeKalb County line to Ross Road, Gwinnett County Police Officer Brian Kelly said.
Linda Barudin, a resident of the Connamaria subdivision between Lawrenceville and Lilburn, said her neighborhood was cut off by flooding from the nearby Yellow River and a tributary. She said residents could not get into or out of the subdivision.
A precinct on the county's southside had to call in officers from other areas for help responding to emergency calls, Kelly said.
Gwinnett County Public Schools shut down for the day after initially planning a 90-minute delay.
Sloan Roach, the school system's spokeswoman, said, with several roads closes around the county, other roads were getting jammed.
"That was going to make the buses very very late in making their pickups," she said. "And we didn't want children standing out in the rain for a long time."
Some students were already at school when the decision was made to close, and buses were rerouted back to make sure that students who rode the school bus in had transportation back home, she said.
At the Norris Lake community, a tributary of the Yellow River was forcing water to pour water back into the lake, against normal flow.
Water was reportedly starting to come into a country store at corner of Norris Lake Road and Norris Lake Drive and was threatening the community's newly remodeled clubhouse.
PAULDING COUNTY
4:15 p.m. Officials were continuing to reach those stranded by flood waters. Three kids hoping for a raft ride were pulled out of the water on Denton Road, near Bakers Bridge Road.
The Paulding County Senior in Dallas is serving as a shelter.
3:43 p.m. Paulding County commissioners have canceled their 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. meetings of Sept. 22. Their next meetings will be Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners meeting room.
2:15 p.m. Paulding County rescue teams helped pull at least 35 people to safety as intense rain flooded streets and homes, according to Mike Earwood, fire chief. Aluminum boats were used in some of the rescues.
A shelter has been set up at Paulding County High School for those who aren't safe in their homes, he said.
"This has been some kinda rain," Earwood said. "I've lived in Georgia all of my life and I've never seen anything like this."
Calls from stranded motorists began coming in around 11 p.m. Sunday night and continued for the next 12 hours, Earwood said. The hardest hit areas have been the southern and parts of the county, near the Douglas and Cobb county lines.
Lightning caused three structure fires, but no injuries were reported.
With more rain anticipated, county residents are asked to staff off the roads if possible. At least 65 roads were closed as of noon Monday.
"If you're safe, please stay home," Earwood said.
Numerous major roads were blocked by high water in Paulding County early Monday, authorities said. Among the roads closed were U.S. 278 and Ga. 92 in the Hiram area, Paulding County sheriff's spokesman Brandon Gurley said. He said more than 60 roads were closed countywide.
Power was also out in many areas of the county, including the major business district around U.S. 278 and Ga. 92, and a couple of convenience stores on Ga. 92 were reported flooded. The county courthouse was closed Monday due to the flooding.
ROCKDALE COUNTY
Emergency crews and sheriff's deputies have rescued at least 35 people from a flooded subdivision in Rockdale County, said Cpl. Eric Sanders with the Department of Natural Resources. Sanders accompanied emergency crews through waters two to three feet high as they disconnected power to the washed out homes. Sanders advised motorists to stay away from state highway bridges and said the water has risen to just two feet below most of those overpasses.
