Woman killed in North Georgia was swept away by floodwaters, officials say
A 56-year-old woman was found dead the day after she was reported missing; she was carried from her vehicle by floodwaters, officials said. Her death is the first reported fatality from torrential rains that have devastated parts of North Georgia.
Julie Barrs was reported missing Wednesday evening after she was swept away shortly before 10 p.m., according to an incident report from the Murray County Sheriff’s Office. Her body was found around noon Thursday, a couple of miles from a mountainous road where the incident happened the night before, Coroner Jason Gibson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He said searchers looked through the night to try to find her.
Josh Lamb, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, confirmed the death during a news conference Friday afternoon. Murray is among four counties Gov. Brian Kemp placed under a state of emergency after multiple inches of rain fell within a 12-hour period late Wednesday and early Thursday.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this flood. We are here to help,” Lamb said.
According to the incident report, Barrs’ Subaru Outback was found around 6 a.m. Thursday along Old CCC Camp Road. Its front doors were underwater and the back hatch open, the sheriff’s office said.
“It appeared Julie was trying to turn into a driveway when she got swept by the water,” according to the report.
The coroner said the incident happened near a creek.
A caller reporting the incident described to dispatchers seeing water entering Barrs’ vehicle and reaching the woman’s chest before she was swept away, the report said.
Emergency management officials in each of the affected counties initially reported no injuries as rescue and cleanup efforts continued Thursday. On Friday, Lamb confirmed there was one other injury in Murray, but he did not provide details. He did not mention injuries or fatalities in other counties.
Lamb said 100 rescues were completed during the flooding event. Only three rescues were reported in Gilmer County, while the remaining 97 happened in Fannin County. He said multiple residents trapped in homes were saved by water rescue teams, primarily in southern parts of Fannin.
On Friday morning, the National Weather Service called the storm a “1 in 1000 Year Rainfall Event” over Blue Ridge. Just over 11 inches of rain fell within a 12-hour window, and more than 10 of those inches fell within six hours, the Weather Service said.
The hardest-hit areas were primarily south of McCaysville near the Fannin-Gilmer County line, around Blue Ridge, Weather Service meteorologist Luke Culver previously said.
The Toccoa River, which changes to the Ocoee River at the Tennessee-Georgia line, reached record levels Thursday morning. Culver said at 7 a.m., the river crested at 18.05 feet, breaking the previous record of 17.75 feet in February 1990. Over the past several days, Culver said the river had sat between 2 and 3 feet, which he said was normal.
Lamb said Friday that much of the floodwaters had receded, but he still advised residents to use caution and follow instructions from local emergency management officials.
A mandatory curfew remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in a designated downtown area in McCaysville, police Chief Michael Earley said in a social media post.
In the neighboring Tennessee city, Copperhill, an evacuation order was lifted around 1:30 p.m. Friday, allowing residents to return to their homes.