Closed as of 9/23/2009.
Lamar Canada, Chattooga County Emergency Management Agency Director
Bruce Garner, Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman
Donations of food, cleaning supplies, washing powders, clothing and other supplies may be given at the RE/MAX office one mile north of Walmart in LaFayette.
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Trion flooded: State of emergency called in Chattooga, Walker and Catoosa counties
Crews were working furiously Monday to shore up a levee along the Chattooga River in Trion that was in danger of failing.
Chattooga County officials say the rising waters forced them to evacuate hundreds of residents in Trion, which sits near the levee.
Chattooga County Emergency Management Agency Director Lamar Canada said the water was about a foot from the top of the levee but appeared to be subsiding around 7:30 p.m. Monday.
According to the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office, two inmate crews from Hays State Prison, along with a county inmate work detail, were called out to sandbag the levee in Trion.
“It’s a grave situation for us. It’s the first time it’s happened in more than a decade,” said Canada.
Railroad tracks became the most viable form of transportation late Monday as many evacuated their apartments near Mt. Vernon Mills in Trion.
Families carrying their belongings watched as waters overtook cars and homes. Summerville Police Officer Labron Jackson was called on duty early that morning and helped to evacuate and secure the location.
“I know a dad who lives in those apartments,” Jackson said pointing at the flooded complex. “He’s raising his two daughters. Now they’ve probably lost everything.”
The brick and whitewash apartment complex was home to many workers at the textile mill who commuted via a walking bridge over the Chattooga River every morning.
Now that river has overtaken their homes and the walking bridge, and threatened to overtake the Central Avenue bridge slightly upriver as well.
Jackson had to tell a group of men they couldn’t take a jon boat to their homes in order to at least gather some clothes.
“It’s just not safe,” he said.
He said he can remember the last time the river crested high enough to cause flooding and evacuations on this scale.
“It was around the 1980s, but it was bad like this,” Jackson said.
Red Cross officials set up a nearby emergency shelter for as many as 300 people.
The city of Trion has issued a boil water order because of flooding at the water treatment plant.
According to Eddie Henderson, who will take over as EMA director next month, there was a possible drowning in Chattooga County caused by the high waters. They were searching late Monday for a missing boy, believed to be 15 or 16.
Around 5:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, Georgia State Patrol officials notified Rome-Floyd 911 dispatchers that northbound lanes of U.S. 27 headed into Chattooga County were closed because of flooding.
Motorists needing to get into the Summerville area should check with the GSP office at 706-295-6002 to see whether the road is reopened. Alternate routes to Chattooga include using Ga. 53 or Ga. 100.
Other counties included in the emergency declaration by Gov. Sonny Perdue are Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale and Stephens.
Chattooga County and Trion City schools will be closed today.
Walker, Catoosa counties
The Greater Chattanooga Area Red Cross and the Salvation Army of Chattanooga provided temporary services for flood victims at the Walker County Civic center.
The Red Cross provided cots, and both organizations were providing food. The Salvation Army is also delivering meals to families in need.
Officials were expecting around 27 families to seek refuge at the shelter late Monday.
Chris Davis, of Brown Estates Townhouses in LaFayette, said 30 units have been destroyed in the past two days of flooding, with three to four feet of water inside the units. The townhouses were evacuated Sunday night.
LaFayette received 11.45 inches of rain from Saturday through Monday evening, according to rainfall figures collected by the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network operated by the University of Georgia.
Donations of food, cleaning supplies, washing powders, clothing and other supplies may be given at the RE/MAX office one mile north of Walmart in LaFayette.
Walker County and Catoosa County schools will be closed today.
Heavy rain Sunday and Monday left many areas in Catoosa County under water — in particular, Fort Oglethorpe.
All schools in Catoosa County were closed Monday because of flooding, and the Chattanooga Red Cross set up a temporary shelter for evacuees at Constitution Hall.
Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer John Bailey, the Walker County Messenger and The Catoosa County News contributed to this report.