ATLANTA - Even a small flood poses a major health risk if warm standing water is left to breed insects that can carry diseases like the West Nile virus, said Atlanta officials who spent Monday dumping insecticide into puddles around neighborhoods flooded over the weekend.<br>
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Hundreds of Atlanta residents had to flee their homes after thunderstorms clogged the sewer system Saturday. Some streets were waist-deep in water, forcing residents to shelters and churches. An estimated 80 to 100 homes were damaged.<br>
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Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin declared a state of emergency for two southwest Atlanta areas hit hard by the thunderstorms - homes in Vine City and Washington Park.<br>
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Health department officials were busy Monday dropping insecticide pellets into the leftover water to kill mosquitoes, which can carry the deadly West Nile virus.<br>
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"We'll be keeping an eye on this for a while," said Latricia Hughes, spokeswoman for the Fulton Department of Health & Wellness.<br>
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Firefighters used boats to evacuate several families after water rushed into homes, forcing residents out.<br>
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"When I stepped off the curb, the water was up to my chin," said 22-year-old Mashaun Terry, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall.<br>
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She and her grandmother, Ivera Powell, found refuge atop a station wagon after water flooded their Beckwith Street home.<br>
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"Then the car started floating and started moving around," Powell said.<br>
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More than 120 families sought help from the American Red Cross.<br>
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"We'll make sure they have a place to stay - a motel room somewhere, food vouchers for restaurants, and if somebody lost all their clothing in the flooding and don't have anything else, we're providing vouchers that they can take to stores and buy new clothing," Red Cross spokesman Bill Maddox told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday.<br>
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The official rainfall total recorded at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport was just less than an inch, but the heaviest rain fell west of the airport, said Robert Beasley of the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.<br>
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Some of the thunderstorms dumped an estimated 2 to 3 inches an hour. Officials said the heavy rains were not caused by Hurricane Isidore, which could bring more rain later in the week.
