Too soon to determine flood record, says official

By Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Yes, we have had a lot of rain in the metro area, but officials with the U.S. Geological Survey are saying it is too soon to call it a 100-year flood.

Brian McCollum, assistant director of the Georgia Water Science Center, said a lot of streams are still rising so they have not been able to make that determination.

“Our crews are out trying to document if that is the case,” he said. “But it is too soon to say. We do not have enough information to say.”

A.B. Wade, regional spokesperson for the Geological Survey said whenever people identify “this is a 100-year flood,” they are normally misusing that terminology.

“It is a probability,” she said. “That does not mean this kind of flood only occurs every 100 years.”

A flood warning for the metro area has stayed mostly in effect for the more than three days.

According to the National Weather Service, historic flooding occurred in much of the Atlanta area around 4:05 p.m. Those areas were receiving two to five inches of rain after receiving close to 10 inches of rain overnight.

Some areas like Paulding, Douglas and Carroll have received more than 13 inches of rain in the past 36 hours, said Matt Sena, NWS meteorologist.

McCollum, who expects to be working through most of the night Monday, said they may be able to make a determination on the flood levels first thing Tuesday morning. But that may still be too soon.