A rare flash flood emergency hit McCaysville, Georgia, as floodwaters topped Copperhill’s 80-year record

The National Weather Service issued a rare flash flood emergency early on Thursday, Nov. 5, for McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee, the twin towns that straddle the state line. By morning the river that is called the Toccoa on the Georgia side and the Ocoee on the Tennessee side had crested above the all-time record at Copperhill, a gauge with 80 years of records behind it. Responders were using rafts to reach people in McCaysville.

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Water in the dark: Blue Ridge, Cherry Log and McCaysville

Heavy rain began late on Wednesday, Nov. 4, as a band of showers and storms crossed the southern Appalachians ahead of a cold front. Just before midnight, water started reaching homes and threatening businesses in Blue Ridge and Cherry Log, Georgia, about 75 miles north of Atlanta, according to Jonathan Erdman of The Weather Channel. The cells moved slowly, steep terrain sent runoff straight to the creeks, and the overnight timing meant many residents were asleep as the water rose.

The flood wave from the Toccoa arrived in McCaysville just after 2 a.m., and photos and video showed water from ankle-deep to waist-deep. McCaysville police asked residents of some neighborhoods to evacuate just before 3 a.m. At 4:30 a.m. the city ordered everyone on West and East Tennessee Avenue out, and by 6 a.m. it had declared a state of emergency and closed every entrance, CBS News Atlanta reported, with only public safety crews allowed in.

Gov. Brian Kemp described an ongoing flash flood emergency and said a multi-agency, multi-state response was under way, as FOX Weather relayed.

Forecasters were already tracking the danger before dawn. The Weather Service office in Morristown, Tennessee, wrote at 6:23 a.m. that widespread catastrophic flash flooding was ongoing in Copperhill, and the Peachtree City office extended its emergency for north-central Fannin County to 9 a.m. with an all-capitals instruction to seek higher ground. Ducktown, Tennessee, sat under its own emergency, and a driver reported swept away in a creek was still being searched for at that point.

The Copperhill gauge and the February 1990 mark

The Weather Service said the crest early Thursday topped the all-time record at Copperhill, and the numbers firmed up through the morning. ABC News reported a crest of 18.05 feet against a prior record of 17.8 feet from Feb. 16, 1990. The river normally sits near 2.5 feet, rose 14 feet in about seven and a half hours and reached major flood stage at 3:30 a.m. A relay of the Morristown office’s updates, posted by the Weatherboy site, put the crest at just over 18 feet at 7:01 a.m. and the old mark at 17.75 feet, and it warned that gauge readings stay preliminary until reviewed.

FOX 5 Atlanta meteorologist Alex Forbes said the river climbed about 16 feet in 12 hours, most of that in a three-hour span, and spread several hundred yards beyond its banks. The 1990 flood he used as the benchmark swamped Copperhill, damaging 34 homes and 50 businesses. Forbes added that final measurements and record rankings still need confirmation from the agencies that keep the gauge, and a river-conservation group’s write-up noted that a local station had already cited 18.05 feet.

Swift-water teams, Army Rangers and a closed border town

Rescue counts varied by the hour. Fannin County officials told FOX Weather that at least 20 people had been pulled out by mid-morning. McCaysville Police Chief Michael Earley put it at 30 to 40 rescues, some from rooftops, and said crews were trying to reach a 90-year-old woman stranded on her kitchen table. By Thursday afternoon, Robert Poole of Fannin County Emergency Management gave the fullest tally: 57 people rescued overnight by 13 swift-water teams working from nine boats.

Six structure fires broke out, three within 10 minutes of each other, and county officials suspected lightning. A propane tank at a McCaysville business caught fire and later exploded. U.S. Army Rangers from Camp Merrill assisted, some people were treated for hypothermia, and Earley said no major injuries had been reported by afternoon. Cell service, power and the city water plant were down, and a boil-water advisory covered the McCaysville system. Shelters opened at the Fannin County Recreation Center and at both city halls.

The state-level response grew through the day. The river group’s account says Kemp declared a state of emergency covering Fannin, Union, Gilmer and Murray counties, McCaysville closed the town to unauthorized visitors, and both Fannin and Gilmer County schools shut on Thursday. Copperhill told people to stay away from downtown and the riverside, and Polk County, Tennessee, schools closed as well. Georgia Department of Natural Resources game wardens joined first responders in Fannin and Murray counties.

Dams, creeks and a second flood in one year

The Tennessee Valley Authority had been holding water back at Blue Ridge Dam since Nov. 3, but much of the flooding came from creeks below it. The river group quoted the reasoning that a dam can only hold back the water that reaches it. The Weatherboy relay said TVA’s Ocoee No. 3 Dam was spilling 150,000 gallons per second at one point.

Downtown McCaysville had already flooded in early August, damaging homes, businesses, the police department and the post office. The river fell below 10 feet by 11:30 a.m. Thursday, back into minor flood stage, and sunshine was forecast for Friday. Whether the Copperhill reading stands at 18.05 feet after gauge-keepers review it is still open.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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