Class II rapids on I-20

[conscious evolution]

Thats how a local traffic reporter described the road conditions this morning in Atlanta.
According to the rain gauge on our backporch we had over 8" of rain fall in one 45 minute downpour yesterday.

What a freakin mess.

[liberal N proud]

1. How many cars/suv's will try white water rafting?

It amazes me how many people think they are the ones who can make it through flooded roads.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. And who's got the video?!

Yee-Haw!

Cue Deliverance Theme...

[seabeyond]

3. i saw a picture on cnn website. car stuck and backed up. wondering

how the cars are going to get off freeway.

[onehandle]

4. Yesterday was like the end of the world.

I've never seen so much rain here. I had to drive down Peachtree Road in Buckhead yesterday. There was 8 to 16 inches of water for over a mile.

And for those not familiar with Atlanta, this is our main street.

[Fumesucker]

5. We spent three hours in torrential rain ...

Putting plastic on our old roof, it hasn't really leaked before but it did for the last few days.

I have pictures I took with my underwater camera, I'm going to be posting some later today.

[SidDithers]

6. Any sign of relief, or are you expecting more?...nt

Sid

[Fumesucker]

7. The sun is shining and the radar shows a few showers in upper NW GA

But nothing in the Atlanta vicinity right now..

Here's a link for radar in N GA..

http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?ID=FFC®ion=c4&lat=33.86914444&lon=-84.76858521&label=Hiram%2c%20GA

[SidDithers]

8. Well, that's good. Hope you guys dry out...

we just went through 20 straight days without rain in Toronto. That hasn't happened in 70 years.

Crazy weather all around.

Sid

[Fumesucker]

9. It's strange, we have been on water restrictions for about a decade..

It got to the point you couldn't wash your car in your driveway without risking a fine..

Now we have more water than we have a clue what to do with.

Wheee!!!

[msongs]

10. god's punishment for wicked sinful ways....oh wait that only applies to southern gays nt

[ThomWV]

11. Weren't they in the middle of the worst drought in the history of god's green earth about a year ago...

[Fumesucker]

12. Yes, but this may not really help all that much..

When rain falls this hard it mostly just runs off rather than soaking in and helping restore the depleted groundwater.

A couple of years ago there is a normally good sized lake/reservoir near me that you could literally step across the trickle running down the middle of the dry lake bed.

[aikoaiko]

13. Lake Lanier rose a foot over the weekend -- thats good news.

But its still 5 feet below full.

[Fumesucker]

14. Oh, I agree that it's not *bad* in terms of the drought..

Just that it's not as good as it might first appear.

I live near Sweetwater Creek, which is out west of Atlanta, it will hit a 100 year high water today.

[conscious evolution]

17. stay safe

From what I have seen on the news the western suburbs are getting the worst of it.

[Fumesucker]

19. Thanks.. Sun is out and it's humid as heck now..

But drying out nicely..

Yeah, we had more or less a permanent thunderstorm on top of us for about four days, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. It was strange watching it on the radar, because it would move off to our north east and then kind of regenerate to our southwest and move right back on top of us.

[Fumesucker]

15. Dupe.. self delete..

[dccrossman]

16. Looked like a creek flowing over the grass in my backyard

No water normally goes through our backyard, but there were a couple of places where it was going over the grass, about 3-4 feet wide and a few inches deep. Crazy stuff.

Lots of people with flooded basements. Water blocking off interstates.

Some photos here:
http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/20925117/detail.html
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USUS296US304&q=atlanta+flooding+picture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=WuG4SvfwAZK0tgfCnLE0&gbv=2

[SoCalDem]

18. Too much concrete & asphalt.. nowhere for the water to go.

:(