Flood warning in effect for Chattahoochee Valley after recent rainfall

The Chattahoochee River is under flood warning until Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The warning went into effect around 12:20 EST Tuesday and affects Lee County and Russell County in Alabama as well as Chattahoochee and Muscogee County in Georgia.

Shortly after the warning was released, rain started falling again in Columbus and continued through the afternoon.

Parts of the River Walk in Columbus were flooded Tuesday, with water reaching the bottom few steps of a few staircases in the area. Across the river in Phenix City, parts of the Phenix City Amphitheatre were flooded.

Flood stage for the river is 27 feet and by early Tuesday afternoon, the water was already at 26.9 feet and rising. The NWS predicts that the river will rise to 27.8 feet by Tuesday evening, before falling to below flood stage overnight.

After last weekend’s heavy rainfall, the NWS is also warning residents to be aware of possible flooding in other areas as well. Riley Land, Emergency Management Director for the city of Columbus, said that his department is watching the conditions just as close as the NWS is.

“We have ready access to the NWS site that portrays river levels in graphic format,” Land said. “We are on standby call with the Columbus 911 Center that will advise us of any localized flooding that may threaten the life safety of our citizens.”

The flood warning expires just before 8 a.m. EST Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Flood warning in effect for Chattahoochee Valley after recent rainfall."