McCaysville flash flood: 18-ft crest sweeps North Georgia

A lot of stories, a lot breaking overnight, especially to our north after those heavy rains rolled in here, causing all kinds of problems up there, a flooding emergency, if you will. And take a look at the streets left behind after that water rushed through that area, north Georgia, nearby areas. This is live up in McKaysville in Fannin County where dozens of people have been rescued after the catastrophic floods swept through the surrounding communities. It's according to emergency management officials who were up there assessing the damage after the flood. You can see that the cleanup has already begun with sweeper trucks out there, the dumpsters in place, and what looks like a beautiful afternoon. After those floodwaters rushed through Fox 5 has several crews in the area tracking the aftermath of the flooding. We're going to hear from officials and residents. We're going to check in first, though, with Storm Team meteorologist Alex Forbes, who's live for us in McKaysville. Alex, this sort of happened really quickly last night after these heavy rains rushed in there, causing all of these flash floods. Yeah, Tom, it was really focused over the mountains. That was the culprit in terms of the impact here in McKaysville. I'm standing on the bridge here that is over the Toccoa River. So this is McKaysville. The end of the street down there, that is Copper Hill, Tennessee. We are right on the state line. You mentioned the street sweeper, have it coming by trying to get the mud off the road this morning and into the afternoon. But the real story over the last, Let's say 12 hours was the rain. The rain that fell in the mountains around here. So that's the key, right? The rain did not necessarily fall in McKaysville. It fell in the mountains. Followed the law of physics as we're going to have the sweeper truck come by here and eventually ended up here in McKaysville, which is one of the lowest points in this area. Now the river flows to the north. It ends up in the Tennessee River. And so all of that water went this way. But look at the results. When I walked up here and saw the amount of debris that stopped up against this bridge, certainly eyebrow raising, particularly with how big. I'm not sure if you can see me here, but this one log is. I mean, that's got to be three and a half, four feet in diameter. You've got floats mixed in. I see Coke cans, what looks like some sort of gas can, all of that coming from upstream. Now, mention that you've got a lot of crews up here. I can see Kevin Stewart off in the distance. He's working on some stuff. So is Ray Urrea. We've got you covered here. Through the afternoon hours. But Tom, this is the spot I was showing on Good Day Atlanta all morning. Here I am a couple hours later up here. And man, it's a sight to be seen after a record crest of 18 feet. I got to ask you, Alex, since meteorology is your specialty, is an area like this prone to this kind of flooding? And has it happened in that area historically before? Yes and yes. So this is actually the second time in three or four months that it has happened right here in McCaysville. North Georgia has a lot of cities that sit in valleys with some sort of creek or river that runs through them. Now, As we look at the different cities, you see others having threats, but McCaysville is pretty unique because it has a lot of the mountainous terrain behind it. And I'm actually going to step a little closer to the camera, just a heads up here, David, because a street sweeper is going to come by here in a minute. But yes, we've got Ellijay that's prone to it. We've got Blairsville that's prone to flooding. We've got Helen that immediately comes to mind. You've got the Chattahoochee River that floods through there. And this is just a way of life up here. And I suspect it won't be the last time we deal with something like this in this particular part of the mountains. If that's the case, Alex, do you feel like they have the proper infrastructure to deal with flooding like this? Because I'm looking behind you, it looks like a mess up there, and if the area is prone to flooding, and it's happened before, in other words, the yes-yes scenario, do they have proper drainage, proper ways to channel that water out of areas like that? I don't think the answer is yes, but I also don't know what a solution is, right? You are in the lowest part of this valley. There's nowhere to drain the water to aside from the place where it's already going, which is downstream. So that is a great question. I don't have a great answer to it. Uh, yo. There's a reason why I do weather and not public policy, and it's probably that. I understand. I'm just looking at the collection of debris there under that bridge. Maybe it was just, at the end of the day, it was just too fast and too furious. Yeah, and I think that's going to be the mantra of, yes, the rain came down too fast and too furious. The river started moving too fast and too furious. And the last part is the speed at which the water came up. It was too fast, too furious. I mean, 16 feet in 12 hours with a large part of that in just about a three-hour window. It's, again, just the result of being in the mountains. I put it to somebody in the newsroom this morning this way. If this amount of rain had fallen over Roswell, for example, You wouldn't have this level of devastation. There'd be widespread aerial flooding, but the fact that you're in a valley makes it that much worse up here. It's led to my question about egress points for that water. I mean, any more water, Alex, behind you there, and that bridge might not be there this afternoon. Yeah, and look, it came up over the bridge, right? The road was covered with mud. The intersection that's actually back behind David here, which I guess we can turn to now. David, you might need to shoot through the sign. That is the one that was underwater this morning, right? That's a good football field length up the road. So it wasn't just the height that the water came, Tom. It was also the degree of which it got out of its banks, which was several hundred yards. Yeah, incredible. perspective from where you are and recap of just how much rain came through that area in the overnight hours and into the morning. Alex Forbes, meteorologist with the Fox 5 Storm Team. Alex, thanks so much.