A flash flood watch remains in effect for the northern half of Georgia until early Tuesday. Forecasters predicted up to 5 inches of rain. A flash flood warning was posted for DeKalb, Fulton and southwestern Gwinnett counties in metro Atlanta.
Motorists encountered deep, fast-moving water and the rain reduced visibility Monday morning.
There were numerous accidents, some due to standing water and others caused by fog and poor visibility, said Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Some lanes were closed on Interstate 20 west of Atlanta because of standing water, she said.
``The best advice is to drive for conditions,'' she said.
She said maintenance crews were clearing drains in the metro Atlanta area to make sure the standing water disappeared as fast as possible.
Kathy Huggins, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said a lightning strike caused a fire in the Carrollton area, leading to the evacuation of 10 homes.
So far there were no reports of major flooding, she said. ``We're not anticipating the kind of rain they had in Tennessee,'' Huggins said. More than 13 inches of rain fell in a two-day period in Nashville, and 11 deaths were reported in the state.
Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson said crews were out Monday morning restoring power to about 2,800 customers who lost their electricity during the storm overnight, with about 1,100 of those out in the north metro area. ``The rest are scattered around,'' he said.
Unless high winds caused additional problems, all power was expected to be restored on Monday, Wilson said.
Fox 5 reports that Sunday's gusty winds toppled a huge tree in Marietta which fell across power lines, snapping power poles like dominoes, and leaving a three-block area in the dark around downtown.
GAINESVILLE AREA
Hall County emergency personnel responded to a dozen wrecks between 5:00 and 9:00 Monday monrning. But emergency management agency director David Kimbrell said there were no injuries in any of them.
At one point, around 7:30, there were accidents causing major delays on the "Big 4" - Interstates 85 and 985, Georgia 400, and Georgia 316.
Rainfall totals as of 10:30 a.m. Monday at select reporting stations in northeast Georgia showed 1.90 inches at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in GAinesville since midnight Sunday; 2.06 inches in Winder; 1.81 inches in Buford; 1.32 in Cumming; and .89 in Clarkesville.
The level of Lake Lanier is already benefiting from the rainfall. The level early Monday was 1072.06, an increase of .25 foot since last Monday and the first time the level has been above 1072 since mid-February. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would like to keep it at 1071 for the spring and summer months.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/5/229115