Metro Atlanta was pelted with rain, tornadoes, wind and, in some places, hail Wednesday. And an end doesn’t appear to be in sight.
Rain was expected to continue throughout the morning, with wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour.
“With all this rain, it’s possible that we could have trees go down because of strong winds,” said Kent McMullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
As late as 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, the region was under a flash flood warning as several people living dangerously close to rising waterways were told to leave their homes as creeks across metro Atlanta overflowed their banks. A spokesman for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said some houses were directly impacted by flooding from Peachtree Creek.
Several Atlanta watershed employees, who were trapped in their car after it stalled in the creek near Woodward Way, had to be rescued by a fire swift rescue team.
According to the National Weather Service, Peachtree Creek, which floods when the water level hits 17 feet, rose above 18 feet Wednesday afternoon.
At least four possible tornadoes swept through Georgia, touching down in Newton, Randolph, Dodge and Webster counties. The storm cut a path several miles long in Webster County, damaging several mobile homes and destroying a large commercial building.
Mark Cox owned what was the Webster Farmers Inc. building in Weston that housed fertilizer and other chemicals off Highway 520.
He sent his crew of about 10 home around 11 a.m. as heavy rain and thunder rolled through.
Cox got a call from an employee, who is also a volunteer firefighter, just after 12:30 p.m.
“He said: ‘You need to come back down here, because it’s a mess,’” Cox said.
The building’s backside was demolished. Part of a tin roof on a neighboring building was ripped off, too.
“I’m out of business ‘til I can get it fixed,” he said, picking up stray debris outside the damages structures early Wednesday evening. “It’ll take a few days to get back to work, but we’ll be OK.
Sammy Vanover, who lives off Highway 520 in Webster County, said he’s never seen anything like Wednesday’s storm during his 43 years, all spent in the area.
“I’m done living in a mobile home,” he said, though his trailer went unscathed.
Back in Metro Atlanta, the weather made Atlanta’s recently more horrible traffic situation worse, while also causing other problems.
In Gwinnett County, three homes were set ablaze after being struck by lightning during Wednesday's severe thunderstorms. Two of the fires were in Lilburn and one in Loganville, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services Capt. Tommy Rutledge said.
In Clayton County, a pregnant woman told Channel 2 Action News that rescue crews pulled her from a flooded car on Garden Walk Boulevard.
Despite the fires, flooding and tornadoes, no deaths have been reported.
At its peak, the storms left more than 9,000 Georgians without power. Georgia EMC reported 2,941 statewide outages, with 460 in metro Atlanta. Georgia Power reported about 6,000 customers were affected by the utility's outages, including 1,406 in the metro area.
At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport dozens of flights were delayed more than three hours, while Delta Airlines canceled about 300 flights. As a consolation, the Atlanta-based airline ordered pizza for several passengers in Atlanta, Tennessee and Louisiana.
“We know it’s not fun to be stuck on the ground somewhere,” Delta corporate communications manager Michael Thomas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Several attractions like Zoo Atlanta, Stone Mountain Park and Six Flags Over Georgia simply closed. Wednesday was the second time this week that Six Flags — which would normally be busy because of spring break — has been forced to close because of weather.
“It’s disappointing, but the safety of our guests and employees is more important than any money we could make today,” said Gene Petriello, a spokesman for the Austell park, Wednesday morning.
Gov. Nathan Deal even canceled a news conference on the I-85 fire and collapse due to severe weather. Deal’s news conference was scheduled to be held at the Georgia State MARTA station. In an afternoon statement from MARTA, the transit system said it would continue to monitor the weather and “make any necessary adjustments to bus routes and rail lines as needed,” while encouraging riders to download the app and follow them on Twitter.
A spokesman for Fulton County said there have been reports of flooding along Highway 92 in Fairburn, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Lynhurst Drive in Atlanta, as well as Lenox Road and Wildwood Road, also in the city of Atlanta.
But flooding was also a problem outside of the city of Atlanta.
Flooding was recorded at Lawrenceville’s Pew Creek and Cobb County’s Allatoona Creek. Pew Creek rose 6½ feet over the day, according to NWS recordings. Allatoona Creek has gone up 8 feet in that time.
Intrenchment Creek, in Southwest DeKalb County, was two-tenths of a foot over its banks.
Big Creek near Cumming, in Forsyth County, is expected to reach six feet, and flood. Its levels should decrease early Thursday morning.
The Alcovy River in Lawrenceville has already reached flood stage. It was at 9.8 feet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, and is expected to be as high as 10.4 feet before lowering later in the evening. It floods at 9 feet.
Sweetwater Creek in Lilburn was just above its 11-foot flood level Wednesday afternoon. It also is expected to fall Wednesday evening.
Morning Creek near North Fayetteville floods at 14 feet. It was at 13.9 feet Wednesday evening.
The storms should be “more than enough” to send more creeks over their banks, said McMullen.
He warned people to be careful of sudden floods.
“Watch the roads and don’t cross any roads that are flooded, no matter how safe it seems,” he said.
McMullen said he expects the Flint River in Lovejoy to flood Thursday afternoon. The Yellow River near Lithonia was expected to flood late Wednesday and in Conyers early Thursday afternoon. The Oconee River in Penfield is also expected to flood Thursday.
Other creeks that the agency does not monitor may also have flooded.
“Right now, it’s everything being soaked,” McMullen said. “We need to let some of these creeks and areas drain.”
AJC reporters Ben Brasch,Amanda C. Coyne, Lauren Foreman,Becca J. G. Godwin,Raisa Habersham,Fiza Pirani, Marlon Walker and Kelly Yamanouchi contributed to this article.
