Hurricane Helene has left Georgia, but Atlanta has a big mess to clean up in her wake.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, more than 30,000 homes and businesses were without power in Fulton and DeKalb counties, according to poweroutage.us.
Local authorities were grappling with downed trees blocking roadways and severe flooding in many areas. Georgia officials have warned motorists to stay off the roads today while clean up continues and water recedes.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon for the city “due to the devastating impacts of Tropical Storm Helene, including significant flooding and power outages,” he said in a news release. The declaration allows the city to seek federal and state resources for recovery efforts.
The city has set up recovery centers at CT Martin and MLK Jr. recreation centers from noon to 6 p.m. Residents can go to these sites to access Wi-Fi and charge phones and other devices.
At a Friday morning news conference, Dickens said the city “had a very eventful night and early morning.” About 6% of the city’s customers were without power, he said, after heavy rainfall over the past few days resulted in flooding and high winds knocked many trees down.
Heavy rain added about 12 feet of water to the Chattahoochee River, causing flooding in the Buckhead area and other low-lying areas, Dickens said.
Peachtree Creek topped its banks in Buckhead swamping streets and homes in Peachtree Battle and Chastain Park. Residents of the Peachtree Park Apartments in Buckhead had to be rescued by boat before dawn this morning.
Atlanta Fire Rescue crews conducted more than 20 water rescues in the Peachtree Battle area Thursday and Friday.
Atlanta Beltline officials urged people to stay off the trail as clean up continues. The Northwest Atlanta Beltline Connector at Tanyard Park, including the Woodward to Bobby Jones Spur Trails, is currently closed due to storm-related damage, according to a social media post. BeltLine officials urged useers to report any emergencies to 911 and non-emergencies to ATL311.
For those who do have to get around, MARTA said it was operating all services today. The transit agency said customers may experience slower bus service due to flooded or blocked roads. For information on bus reroutes and to plan your trip, visit itsmarta.com.
And while there is much to clean up and assess, metro Atlanta was spared the worst of Helene. Ryan Willis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the storm ended up drifting along the eastern edge of the forecast cone.
That left most of metro Atlanta on the storm’s weaker, western side and kept wind speeds in the city lower than in other areas, Willis said.
Elsewhere in the state, nearly 900,000 are still without power at 8 p.m. and the number of dead across the state has risen to 15 people.
Kemp warned that flooding could become worse over the next 12 to 36 hours and trees are still falling due to saturated soil.
