Remains of Hurricane Dennis bring rain, flooding to Georgia

<p>Rain from the aftermath of Hurricane Dennis continued to drench the Atlanta area Monday, as the city saw more than 5 inches of rain within 18 hours. Thousands of residents were without power on Monday morning.</p><p>A rain band from the storm had stalled over northern Georgia for several hours, dumping 5.14 inches of rain in the Atlanta area between 2 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday. Peachtree City, a southern suburb of Atlanta, had 6.38 inches of rain, said Eric Avila, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.</p><p>On Monday, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had received 2.63 inches of rain between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., while Peachtree City saw 3.89 inches during that time, Avila said.</p><p>"We could still see another few inches, it's just not moving," Avila said.</p><p>Flood warnings were in effect Monday for parts of metro Atlanta and the entire Atlanta area, most of north and central Georgia was under a flood watch.</p><p>Many roads, creeks and rivers were overrun with water, slowing down drivers and flooding homes. In Clayton County, firefighters used boats to evacuate residents in at least two neighborhoods.</p><p>Meanwhile, farther west in Georgia has much less rain. Athens had recorded just .63 inches of rain by Monday morning.</p><p>About 55,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity Monday morning, said Konswello Monroe, a spokeswoman for the utility. Of those, 49,000 were in the Atlanta area. The rest were scattered around the state with most in northwest Georgia, Monroe said.</p><p>Gusty wind was an issue Sunday afternoon and earlier Monday morning but later subsided, Smith said. There would still be winds around 10 to 15 miles per hour Monday "but nothing compared to like it was yesterday," Smith said.</p><p>So far, there have been no reports of tornadoes and all tornado watches had been canceled, Smith said. But flood warnings remained in effect in a number of counties and for parts of the Chattahoochee River.</p><p>The storm hit areas still recovering after being buffeted last week by remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy. That storm has been blamed for two deaths. It also spawned tornadoes that damaged homes and caused extensive damage at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.</p><p>Although this time, Georgia was not in the Hurricane Dennis' main path, the first band of storms spinning out of the hurricane began rolling across the state shortly before midnight Saturday.</p>