(The Center Square) – One person died when floodwaters swept through North Georgia and Southeast Tennessee, the director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said Friday.
Eight to 10 inches of rain fell in the area, causing the Toccoa and Ocoee rivers to flood, officials said.
A vehicle on CCC Camp Road was swept away by floodwaters, and the driver died, said Josh Lamb, director of the agency, in a news conference. Only one other injury was reported in Murray County, Lamb said.
Damage assessment teams are in the impacted areas.
“A total of 100 rescues have been reported during the flooding response, with 97 of those being in Fannin County and three of those being in Gilmer,” Lamb said.
Many businesses in McCaysville, Ga., lost everything to a flood that also destroyed the town’s Police Department, McCaysville Public Safety Director Otis Earley said in a social media post.
Earley said Friday that access to downtown McCaysville is limited to public safety officials, business owners and residents.
“Our city government buildings have sustained devastating damage, and many of our local businesses, shops, and residents have experienced heartbreaking losses,” Earley said in the post. “Our community has been severely impacted, and the road to recovery will not be easy.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for Fannin, Union, Gilmer and Murray.
McCaysville borders Tennessee’s Copperhill, which also had heavy flooding and damage. The towns share the river, called Ocoee in Tennessee and Toccoa in Georgia.
Copperhill officials said their town’s evacuation order had been lifted but urged residents returning home to use caution in a social media post. The town remains under a boil water advisory.
Copperhill and McCaysville have enacted a curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.