North Georgia was rocked by severe weather Wednesday, highlighted by the deadly tornado that struck Bartow County. The impact of the storm system was felt metro-wide, especially by commuters who struggled to get home during and after the storm.
As the heavy rains fell Wednesday afternoon, we saw standing water issues on three major thoroughfares in metro Atlanta. Significant flooding was seen on Georgia 400 at Northridge Road, Interstate 85 ramping to Camp Creek Parkway and Interstate 75 south of Moores Mill Road.
Authorities were able to clear clogged drains on GA 400 and I-85, but struggled to solve the issue on I-75 in Northwest Atlanta. For about three hours, three right lanes of I-75 northbound were closed between Howell Mill Road and Moores Mill Road. As a result, traffic was horrible leaving midtown Atlanta.
I checked with Jill Goldberg from the Department of Transportation to see why it took so long to get I-75 cleared up.
“Those drain grates had been cleaned prior to the storm (we cleaned grates throughout the metro area in preparation) and were checked again by our crews after water began to accumulate in the location,” Goldberg said. “But the grates were still clear despite the fact that the water was not draining.”
Many frustrated commuters blamed clogged grates as the reason for the flooding. The problem was apparently deeper, so the DOT had to take additional steps to clear the water.
“The crews attempted to go further into the drain pipes to clear them but were unsuccessful, so one of our pumping trucks was dispatched to pump the water away,” Goldberg said.
Unfortunately, by that point, getting to the issues was a problem for the pump truck.
“The pump truck had difficulty reaching the location due to the rush hour and heavy congestion from the rain, Goldberg said. “Shortly after the pumping truck arrived and set up the situation improved and the crews were able to open additional lanes until the full interstate was open at that location.”
To the DOT’s credit, the clogged drains and the flooding issues were cleared fairly rapidly on GA 400 and I-85 once the crews got on the scene.
Unfortunately, despite preventative efforts, when we have so much rain come down, so fast, even clean storm drains can get clogged when the rushing waters collect debris in their paths.
The build-up of water on the interstates was not surprising to local weather experts.
“The problem was a lot of it came in a short time and it was widespread or covered a lot of area,” said WSB-TV meteorologist David Chandley. Heavy cells also went over areas that were already drenched like box cars rolling down the railroad tracks — one downpour after another, Chandley said.
“Many spots in north Georgia had saturated soils so there was nowhere else for the water to go but runoff,” Chandley added.
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