After more than 4 inches of rain drenched Atlanta over the weekend, the area got a break from showers during the day Monday. Then, more showers moved into parts of the metro area.
A flood watch remained in effect until 8 p.m. Monday for the northwest corner of the state, including Paulding and Bartow counties in metro Atlanta. Other parts of metro Atlanta were no longer under a flood watch early Monday.
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said the rainy system was trying to push its way out of the area early Monday, but added, “it’s going to be a very slow process.”
The chance of rain diminishes to 20 percent Tuesday with sunny skies in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, according to Channel 2 chief meteorologist Glenn Burns.
Temperatures this week will start off cool, with highs on Monday reaching the low 60s, but should warm into the upper 70s by Wednesday and low 80s Thursday and Friday, Burns said. Overnight lows this week will be in the middle to upper 50s.
Meanwhile, the clean-up continued early Monday after trees came toppling down from the soggy ground.
Piedmont Road in northeast Atlanta reopened to traffic before 6 a.m. after being shut down by a fallen tree between Ansley Mall and Cheshire Bridge Road. Another tree toppled onto power lines and blocked Juniper Street in Midtown before daybreak Monday.
Willie Walker was coordinating the clean-up on Juniper at 5th Street for Georgia Power.
“We had a mess,” Walker said.
“Around 11 p.m. Sunday, a big oak tree fell down on these lines,” he said.
“The pressure from the tree popped the pole about half-way up,” Walker said. “We had to get the tree cut off so we could get a new pole in the ground.”
Just before 7 a.m. Monday, Walker said electricity would soon be restored to the 40 customers along Juniper who were without power.
A Georgia Power spokeswoman said 500 customers in metro Atlanta were without power at 7 a.m. Monday, most of them in areas north of I-20.
In Sandy Springs, a downed tree blocked North Mill Road between Brandon Mill and Johnson Ferry roads.
In northwest Atlanta, the ramp from Mt. Paran Road to I-75 southbound was shut down at 7:30 a.m. Monday due to deep standing water in the roadway.
Channel 2 reported that school buses were being rerouted Monday after a giant hole consumed part of Glen Wilkie Trail in northern Cherokee County. Heavy rain over the weekend caused the ground to erode around the drainage system underneath part of the road.
Woodstock authorities said Rope Mill Park is closed until further notice due to the rising level of the Little River, which flows past the park. Heritage Park in Canton was closed as well, while flood warnings were issued for areas surrounding Big Creek in Alpharetta and Cumming.
Two people died in two separate crashes Saturday on I-20 in Greene County, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
Around 11:25 a.m., Calverence Roshard Lee, 29, of Wrens, died when the Honda Accord she was a passenger in crossed the median and into the path of a tractor-trailer, GSP spokesman Gordy Wright said late Saturday.
Lee and the Honda’s driver, Coranda Nicole Peeples, 26, of Morrow, were both ejected in the crash, which investigators believe was caused by the slick roadway. Peeples was taken to Athens Regional with serious injuries.
A second fatal crash occurred around 2 p.m. on I-20 westbound at Ga. 44, killing one and injuring four others, according to the GSP.
A westbound tractor trailer was approaching traffic that was stopped due to the first fatal crash at mile marker 127 when it hit a Ford Crown Victoria, causing the Ford to spin, the GSP said. The car was hit by the truck a second time and knocked backward into the rear end of a second tractor trailer, authorities said.
Rear seat passenger Annaleah Karth, a 17-year-old from Rocky Mount, N.C., was killed. Two other passengers and the Ford driver were transported to a hospital for treatment, as was the tractor trailer driver, the GSP said.
Rainfall totals since the weekend showers and thunderstorms began included 4.37 inches in Alpharetta, 4.09 inches in Johns Creek, 4.18 inches in Dunwoody and 4.27 inches at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
John Spink, Alexis Stevens, Christian Boone and Angel K. Brooks contributed to this article.
About the Author
