Liberty County officials are encouraging residents whose homes were damaged from Tropical Storm Debby-induced floods to let the county know about the effects.
Liberty Emergency ManagementDirectorBob Dodd said affected residents can email the EMA at libertycountyema@libertycountyga.com or call at 368-2201 if they have damage.
Liberty EMA got reports of 17 structures being affected, with six suffering minor damage, eight receiving major damage and one being destroyed. There also were 250 customers without power.
Damage assessment teams went out August 7 but on Thursday, the Liberty EMA was still getting weather updates and on August 9 got reports of flooding in the Mt. Olivet Church and Pate Rogers roads in Fleming.
Dodd said one family left the area on its own.
“So we didn’t have to evacuate anybody,” he said.
The Ogeechee River was at 7.65 feet on August 4, Dodd pointed out, and it was 17.97 feet on August 10. The Canoochee was at 7.97 feet and hit 18.11 on August 10.
“The Canoochee just didn’t have anywhere to go,” he said.
EMA officials talked to Fleming residents about the flood waters that hit their neighborhoods.
“They had never seen anything like that,” Dodd said. “It was a 100-year flood.”
The county recorded 14 inches of rain during the storm at Gum Branch, and Hinesville and Midway each received about seven inches.
Dodd also praised the help of the Red Cross and the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Team in the storm’s aftermath. He added the Fleming residents also have pitched in for each other, and for the EMA.
“We talked to a lot of people in the area,” he said. “The neighbors took care of us. They got some big trucks out there. They took care of each other.”
“Everybody was upbeat,” said Commissioner Maxie Jones IV, whose district covers Fleming. “We didn’t any experience anybody with any sour attitudes. It was a once in a 1,000-year storm. The magnitude that it was caught everybody by surprise. They understood what we were challenged with. I thank them for being patient with us.”
Damage assessments will be passed along to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and then to FEMA, which will make any determination on a disaster area, County Administrator Joey Brown said.
Liberty EMA also answered a call from Bryan County to help relocate residents of a Richmond Hill nursing home. The call for help came about 10:30 at night and the transfer work was done by 5 the next morning, Dodd said.