Friday night’s storm was so strong, it washed the front license plate off of David Turrentine’s car.
Turrentine was caught in the storm while playing Ultimate Frisbee at Silverbacks Park off Northcrest Road between I-85 and Chamblee Tucker Road in DeKalb County. He rushed out of a nearby restaurant to find the parking lot flooded, the water level already above the seats of his Audi.
When the Decatur man saw his car flooded out, his first thought was that the car was almost paid off. He showed up at the Silverbacks first thing Saturday morning, before the gates were even unlocked, to come back and retrieve it.
“It’s just a car. I’m glad I got out alive,” he said, pulling open the driver’s side door to reveal waterlogged seats and a mud so thick it had turned the black interior brown.
Credit: Chaya Tong
Credit: Chaya Tong
The storm brought flash flooding to multiple areas around metro Atlanta, including the Silverbacks Park in DeKalb County. His car was one of several damaged.
Dylan Lusk, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said up to 4.5 inches of rain hit parts of the metro area.
DeKalb County got between 2 and 3 inches. A video of the Silverbacks parking lot went viral on social media, garnering more than a million views and showing other damaged cars.
Lusk said areas with low drainage or a lot of concrete have a harder time absorbing water, which could account for what Turrentine described as a “lake” in the Silverbacks parking lot.
Dakota Heaton, who works as a bartender at Willie B’s Bar and Grill — where Turrentine was Friday night — said the storm knocked the power out, forcing the restaurant to close early. People ran out into the parking lot to rescue their cars.
Credit: Chaya Tong
Credit: Chaya Tong
“There were some people that pulled up right here on the side, and they were literally scooping buckets of water out of their car,” he said, pointing out the window from his spot behind the bar.
Heaton has been playing soccer at Silverbacks for four years and working at the bar for six months, but said this is the worst flooding he’s ever seen.
“The parking lot was just chaos because there’s a creek on the backside, so it just filled it way up,” he said.
The NWS has issued 90 severe weather and flash flood warnings since Wednesday. Lusk said NWS advises people to be extra cautious when driving during severe weather this time of year.
“If you see water moving over a roadway or a roadway that is filled with water, don’t drive through it. Please turn around,” he said. “Our slogan is: turn around, don’t drown.”
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