Such A Rainy Night in Georgia!
Wow, we have had so much rain in the past couple of days. When you watch the news, the coverage is about all the rain. It would be ok, if there had not been so much. The rivers and creeks are overflowing. Bridges are collapsing and roads are devoured by the water.
Schools are closing and businesses are closing early. The interstate 575 has been closed becaused it is covered with flowing water and cars can’t get through. Over 200 roads are closed. There has been news of a subdivision that is cut off from any entry or exit because the road became a sink hole. Hundreds of Atlanta homes are damaged or destroyed.
These are occurences we are not familiar with. We watched, glued to the tv when there were reports of flooding and devastation in New Orleans. Now we are watching with amazement at what is happening at our homes.
Cars are covered in water, Atlanta houses are flooded over waist deep and roads are washed away. Flood insurance. No need for that in our area. We hear something about a 100 year flood, but we already had that a few years ago, so no need for flood insurance, right? Wrong. No one is ready for such devastation. No one.
We have lost four lives during this storm, and hopefully no more. Many, many terrible stories. I hope you are safe tonight.
Below is some Atlanta emergency information in case you need it.
Metropolitan Atlanta Red Cross, 404-575-3730, http://www.atlantaredcross.org, e-mail: info@arcatl.org. For other Red Cross branches go to http://www.redcross.org.
● The Centers for Disease Control has some tips for re-entering a flooded home at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/mold/reenter.asp. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also has safety tips at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/fema/flood.html.
● The Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Web site lists myths and facts about flood insurance as well as other safety tips at http://www.gema.state.ga.us.
GEMA says people who need help should call their county emergency agency office first, which will probably refer them to non-profit agencies and charities.
The emergency management county office numbers for metro Atlanta are:
Clayton County: 770-478-8271 or 404-608-2383 if in Forest Park.
Cobb County: 770-499-4567 or 770-319-2511 if in Smyrna.
Coweta County: 770-254-2650
DeKalb County: 404-294-2000.
Douglas County: 770-949-3007.
Fayette County: 770-305-5414 or 404-472-7019.
Forsyth County: 770-205-5674.
Fulton County: 404.730.5600.
Gwinnett County: 770-513-5060.
Henry County: 770-957-9121
Rockdale County: 770-278-8119 *Source GEMA Web site and county offices.
