FLOOD UPDATE: Riverwalks, parks remain closed; section of Highway 27, Benning roads blocked
UPDATE -- Though Muscogee County was under a flash flood warning most of Wednesday, city leaders reported no major damage from additional rains.
Authorities across the river in Russell County reported no new damage, but said some roads remained closed.
Bob Franklin of Russell County Emergency Management said the storm-damaged roads were Lakeview Drive, Gatewood Road and Bowden Road in Cottonton, plus Leroy Road, Hooks Road and North Richardson Road.
Fort Benning warned Wednesday that portions of 10th Division Road, Sightseeing Road, Sunshine Road, Way Street and Laundry Bridge are closed.
The post said 10th Division Road between Edwards Street and Sigerfoos Road is closed to vehicles, cyclists, runners and walkers.
Sightseeing Road’s closure means all traffic using the Eddy Bridge to Alabama must use designated detours: Dixie Road to Jecelin Road to 82nd Airborne Division Road, or Indianhead Road to Bradshaw Road to 82nd Airborne Division Road behind the airfield.
In Columbus, Pat Biegler, director of the city’s public works department, said her office got about 30 calls Wednesday, most reporting temporary flooding of yards and intersections. The standing water eventually drained, she said.
That’s typical when the area gets a lot of rain at once, she said. The storm sewers become overloaded, and sometimes leaves or other debris temporarily block grates.
Her staff received no reports of major structural damage or fallen trees, she said.
With rain continuing to fall, already flooded parks remain closed in Columbus, including Heath Park, Oxbow Meadows, Rotary Park, Cooper Creek Park and the Chattahoochee RiverWalk. Deputy City Manager Lisa Goodwin said it’s too early for a damage assessment.
In Harris County, the Georgia Department of Transportation closed a section of Highway 27 at Macon Drive near Cataula. Detours are posted at Holland and West Bon Acre roads until the repairs are completed. Officials said the busy stretch of road may be closed for about two weeks.
The Phenix City Parks and Recreation Department said its riverwalk also is closed, but all other parks remain open.
At 12:26 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning until 6:30 p.m. for Muscogee and eight other area counties — Chattahoochee, Harris, Meriwether, Pike, Talbot, Taylor, Troup and Upson. The service said two inches of rain fell Wednesday morning with 1 to 3 inches more expected that afternoon. Among the areas expected to have flooding were LaGrange, Thomaston, Zebulon, Hamilton, Talbotton, Greenville, Cusseta, Manchester, West Point, Hogansville, Pine Mountain, Woodbury, Luthersville, Waverly Hall, Warm Springs, Woodland, Molena, Yatesville, Williamson and Meansville, the service said.
A flood watch remains in effect for Muscogee and 81 other counties through Friday night. A flood watch means conditions likely to cause flooding exist.
“Soils remain very saturated across north and central Georgia,” read the weather service notice. “Widespread showers and a few thunderstorms are expected to redevelop across Georgia today and continue into Thursday. An additional one to three inches of rain is possible across the watch area. Rainfall should begin to taper off from north to south through Friday evening.”
With so many of the state’s rivers and creeks already overflowing, “this additional rainfall will likely prolong flooding in many of these areas, and likely cause new flooding,” the service said.
It said between a half-inch to an inch more of rain, with local amounts up to 2 inches, was expected Wednesday night over a line stretching from Columbus to Macon to Washington.
With more rain coming, Georgia Power opened a sixth flood gate Wednesday afternoon at Columbus’ Lake Oliver Dam.
Each gate Georgia Power opens at Lake Oliver, said company spokesman Robert Watkins, adds approximately 6,000 cubic feet per second of flow to the river. So with six gates open, that’s 36,000 cfs of water heading to Columbus and Phenix City. Normal maximum flow when Georgia Power is generating is 13,500 cubic feet per second, Watkins said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which for flood control manages the upstream West Point Dam, was releasing 34,000 cubic feet of water per second Wednesday and expected to continue that flow for the next few days.
The forecast for today says showers are likely with a 70 percent chance of rain and a high near 62. Tonight has a 60 percent chance of rain and a low of 48.
The weather service says Friday’s forecast has a 30 percent chance of showers and a high near 52, with mostly cloudy skies and a low of 38 that night.
And then, finally, the weather starts to dry out: Saturday’s to be partly sunny, with a high of 52 and a low of 37 that night. Sunday’s to be mostly cloudy, with a high near 54 and a low of 36 that night.
UPDATE -- Georgia Power spokesman Robert Watkins emailed the Ledger-Enquirer at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday the following update about the Chattahoochee River flooding:
"We are opening another gate at (Lake) Oliver. We now have 6 gates open. This continues to be a high flow event. Everyone should be extremely careful around the river, lakes, and streams. We will keep you posted if we have any major changes to the operation."
Each gate Georgia Power opens at Lake Oliver, Watkins said, adds approximately 6,000 cubic feet per second of flow to the river. So with six gates open, that's 36,000 cfs of water heading to Columbus and Phenix City. Normal maximum flow when Georgia Power is generating is 13,500 cfs, Watkins said.
UPDATE -- Watkins emailed the following update at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday:
"We were able to close the one gate at (Lake) Oliver that we had to open to accommodate Monday’s rain about midnight last night. We now have 5 gates open. This continues to be a high flow event. Everyone should be extremely careful around the river, lakes, and streams. We will keep you posted if we have any major changes to the operation."
Here is the original story:
Columbus caught a break from near-constant rains Tuesday, but authorities said the Chattahoochee River this week likely will remain at or close to its current flood stage as upriver dams release water.
The reservoirs behind U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams at West Point Lake and Lake Lanier have risen to what's called "summer pool," which is good for boating and other recreation, but not for storing water from winter rains. Those levels need to be dropped so those lakes can store more rainwater, and that means releasing more water downstream.
Downstream, the dam at Columbus' Lake Oliver had six flood gates open Tuesday, and that was adequate to handle the downstream flow plus runoff from downpours Monday night, said Georgia Power spokesman Robert Watkins.
He said four gates are expected to remain open through this week, so the river may not show a significant drop anytime soon, particularly if the area gets more rain.
But so far the situation's steady, Watkins said. "We have a lot of capacity," he said of Lake Oliver. "We managed last night's rain with one gate."
In an email update Tuesday morning, Watkins wrote:
"The COE (Corps of Engineers) is going to a release of about 38,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) in the next hour through most of the day today. They will cut back this afternoon around 5 p.m. Central to 30,000 cfs. This, combined with slightly higher than normal local inflows, have caused us to open one more gate at Oliver. We understand that even though the river level itself is dropping in many places, Lake Lanier needs to release some more water. Therefore, we expect to be holding at this output for the foreseeable future."
On Monday, City Engineer Donna Newman said the river's level was around 29 feet above flood stage, down approximately 6 feet from the Christmas Day peak of 35 feet.
On Tuesday, Michael Burgess of the city's stormwater management division said the river was at 29.45 feet.
Riverwalks on both sides of the Chattahoochee remained closed, though folks still came out to the water's edge to fish, or just to sit on the bank and watch the river flow.
The heavy rains of the holiday weekend affected more than the river, though, as Bull Creek Golf Course at 7333 Lynch Road had to close because of flooded greens.
Jeff Ingram at Bull Creek said the course once had five or six greens underwater, and three still were flooded Tuesday. The course hoped to have an 18-hole configuration open today, he said.
The city's Oxbow Creek Golf Course off South Lumpkin Road also had closed because of flooding, but was back open Tuesday morning.
Pat Biegler, director of Columbus public works, said her division reported no new problems from flooding Tuesday.
At the Columbus Water Works, crews were busy with 12 sewer overflows, several backups in homes and flooding at the South Columbus Water Resources Facility. With the river level so high, flow of wastewater was impeded at the facility, officials said in a release. Staff restored operation of the plant but it will take several days to determine if the plant is in compliance.
Muddy water at the North Columbus Resources Facility caused some mechanical problems in treating drinking water. Mechanical problems were corrected and drinking water is safe but it may appear cloudier than normal.
More rain is expected today, when the forecast calls for a 100-percent chance of rain and a high of 70 degrees.
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that flood conditions are unlikely to change.
"The flood warning continues for the Chattahoochee River near Columbus until Saturday morning," the service said. "At 12 p.m. Tuesday the stage was 29.6 feet and steady. Minor flooding will continue. Flood stage is 27 feet. The river will continue to fall below flood stage by early Saturday morning."
-- Staff writers Mark Rice and Ben Wright contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 10:46 PM with the headline "FLOOD UPDATE: Riverwalks, parks remain closed; section of Highway 27, Benning roads blocked."