Weather in Gilmer County has fluctuated from rain and flooding to deep snow to more rain and possibly more flooding, all in less than a week.
“They say it happens in threes,” said Gilmer County Public Safety Director Keith Kucera.
On Thursday, Feb. 6, Gilmer was subject to heavy rainfall which raised local rivers to flood stage.
The Coosawattee River reached 9.6 feet, which caused some localized flooding, Kucera said.
Public safety deployed three swift water safety teams at various locations as a precaution. Fortunately, no one needed to be rescued.
“You could definitely see some minor flooding on the roads,” he said.
Gilmer County schools released early Thursday, then closed Friday for safety reasons. Gilmer County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs said there were several roads where buses would not be able to travel.
She commended bus drivers and staff who worked to get all students home safely.
Inclement weather took Friday off, but returned Saturday with heavy snow.
Kucera said if you looked online you saw one day of flooding, one day of green grass followed by piles of snow.
Official totals were reported as 5.5 inches of snow in the county, though it varied depending on location and elevation.
Gilmer County’s biggest problem from a public safety perspective occurred when Highway 515 at the 382 connector had to be shut down. Multiple vehicles were stuck in the area, gumming up the road and impeding safe travel.
Kucera said a warming shelter was opened until GDOT could clear a lane of travel for motorists to Blue Ridge.
“We had fantastic cooperation between all the agencies,” Kucera said. He included in these Gilmer County Fire, Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, East Ellijay and Ellijay police departments and Ellijay Fire Department, among others, who cooperated to clear the problems on Hwy. 515.
Howard Simmons Road and Coosawattee Road were closed, which is normal when icing and deep snow occur.
“That’s pretty common with the snows because of the hills,” he said.
During both events, trees were downed and had to be cleared. Kucera said the county road department worked to clear as many roads as possible.
“We had hoped it would transition to rain,” he said. “It never did.”
Monday, Kucera and the rest of Gilmer County began preparations for more flooding as it was forecasted to get as much as 6 inches of rain during the evening.
At the Gilmer County School Board work session Monday night, Dr. Downs made the decision to close schools for students Tuesday, Feb. 11, based on flooding predictions.
The Coosawattee River reached 6.9 feet Monday night and was being monitored.
Flooding usually occurs when the county receives 2 to 3 inches of rain in an hour, otherwise the rivers are able to handle the flow, he said.
“They’ll be high for the next week,” Kucera said. “We’re hopeful we don’t have any problems,”
Lessons learned from the first two events are that the more people stay home, the less emergency services have to respond to situations.
“Please pay attention to the forecasts,” he said. “Prepare and stay home.”
He said the ground is saturated, and rain is still forecast through Wednesday. The extended forecast is calling for rain through the weekend.
“We just ask people to be cautious as they are out and about,” Kucera said.
Drivers should be cautious and not drive through pooled water on the roadways.