Gully washer strands some metro Atlanta residents

Streets damaged by heavy weather stranded some Flowery Branch residents and guests over the weekend and the trouble could return with more rain expected later this week.

Guests who stayed over after attending a Flowery Branch wedding on Saturday were left scrambling to reschedule flights, a job interview and make it to work after they were trapped Sunday by a washed out Trudy Drive.

Repair crews worked throughout the day and well into Sunday night repairing a 50- to 75-foot stretch of Trudy Drive that was washed away by flood waters.

While there was still paving work to do on the road Monday, residents told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the repair crews had filled in the washed-out section of pavement enough by around midnight Sunday that they could finally leave their neighborhood.

Parts of Spring Street were not totally washed out but the street was so weakened by the rains that it was closed and roughly 100 residents were unable to return to or leave their apartments. One lane of Spring Street was re-opened Monday but the mayor of the south Hall County town said even the slightest bit of rain could wash away the road for good.

“Last night after the rain stopped, Spring Street sunk another foot-and-a-half,” Mayor Mike Miller said Monday. “We could be a good 1/2-inch away from seeing it totally wiped away.”

That could happen as soon as Wednesday, and Miller said crews are on standby in case an evacuation is necessary. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of rain by mid-week, prompting city officials to approve the erection of a temporary bridge that Miller said will be completed on Tuesday.

In just six hours Sunday, Flowery Branch received 7.5 inches of precipitation, overwhelming the town’s hydro-infrastructure, according to the mayor.

The repairs came too late for some out-of-towners stranded in the neighborhood after attending a wedding on Saturday.

Gene Cassidy, who lives on the washed-out street, said his granddaughter got married Saturday at his daughter’s house three doors down.

“They were all leaving on Sunday, and the road washed out,” Cassidy said. “They had to change their plane reservations, and one of the grandsons had an interview down in Tallahassee that he didn’t get to go to today.”

Kim Lingle, the mother of the bride, said the washed out road was an “inconvenience” to the nearly two dozen guests who stayed over after the Saturday night.