Residents along the Oconee and Altamaha Rivers in Montgomery County were issued a local state of emergency last Thursday after rising flood waters began to overtake roads and properties.
Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Director Donnie Daniels released a Mandatory Evacuation Order Thursday and notified residents on Three Rivers Lane, Dead River Road and Towns Bluff Lane that the Oconee River would be flooding and advised the residents that emergency services would not be able to reach them if them chose to remain.
Monday afternoon of this week, Daniels said, the river has gone down some, but it’s slow, and said that all three roads remain closed.
The EMA Director said at the 221 Bridge, the flood stage is 13 feet, and Monday afternoon, the waters were at 20.17 feet. He added that the Altamaha River at the bridge was expected to stay close to 20 feet until Tuesday afternoon when it should begin dropping. By Saturday afternoon, it should be dropped to 17.5 feet, which is still above flood stage.
The news is better on the 280 side of the river. According to Daniels at that bridge the water has receded to 16.55 feet; the flood stage is 16 feet Daniels said.
With rain forecast for most of this week, he said that while it may affect the levels some, he didn’t expect any further major flooding.
Toombs County EMA Director Lynn Moore said there are no issues with flooding in Toombs County even though the rivers are out of their banks, too.
Moore said that around 1:45 Monday afternoon. he Altamaha is at the top of the boat ramp at Gray’s Landing. The water is up at McNatt Falls and the #1 Bridge but there’s no cause for alarm and there have been no reports of anyone calling for rescue or assistance in Toombs County.
Moore said rains between 2-3 inches is forecasted through Friday of this week, but with the rivers already dropping, it should cause no further issues.
The Toombs County EMA Director said that the Altamaha crested at 81.5 feet Monday, and was expected to be at 81 feet Tuesday morning. However he added that a lot depends on what happens in the northern part of the state noting that from Lake Sinclair [Milledgeville], it takes roughly 4 days for the water to traverse to our area.
