Photos by Danny Gilleland/The Macon Telegraph
In this 1994 file photo, water covers buildings in west Montezuma the first day of flooding in the Macon County city.
 
Massive flood teaches
town to thrive
MONTEZUMA - Marks of progress have replaced the watermarks of a once-submerged city. On South Dooly Street, where a piece of rope was tied 13 feet up a pole to gauge the rising water, brick sidewalks have replaced torrents of mud. ... The town gutted by the Great Flood of '94 has been replaced by a community improved by it. 		 
The Great Flood of '94 changed the midstate and people's lives forever. This is the fifth of an eight-day series. Send your stories to: flood@macontel.com

Americus makes most
of disaster
AMERICUS - In the city where nearly half of the state's deaths from the Great Flood of '94 occurred, recovery is less about repairs than about preparing for future disasters. "It allowed us to get a better understanding of the things we needed to do to improve communication and cooperation," said Mike Mock, director of the local Emergency Management Agency. 		 
broken dam
The breaking of this Macon County dam flooded Beaver Creek, which in turn caused the deluge in Montezuma.
 
   

 
 timeline

July 8, 1994
Water and sewerage systems shut down in Hawkinsville after the Ocmulgee River floods sewage treatment plant. Six caskets wash out of Pine Bloom Cemetery. Pulaski County inmates are transferred to the Dodge County jail. Roads close because of flooding.

Steady rain slows flood cleanup in Americus. Mayor Russell Thomas sees funnel clouds while surveying damage from a helicopter.

The rain-swollen Flint River crests at 26.3 feet at Montezuma and joins Beaver Creek in the streets. Police from east Georgia arrive to help enforce a curfew and prevent looting.

The Flint dumps floodwaters into Lake Blackshear; 2,500 are evacuated.

Thousands flee their homes in Albany ahead of the rising Flint, which continues to spread three miles on either side of its banks in Albany; people who had refused to evacuate are rescued by boat. The city is cut in half when the last of three bridges into downtown is closed, leaving a 100-mile detour to get from one side of town to the other. A curfew is imposed. More than 400 caskets are washed out of Oakview Cemetery.

The sheriff moves 70 prisoners out of the Decatur County jail in Bainbridge.

Interstate 75 south of Macon opens for southbound traffic only. I-475 reopens, Ga. 247 is still closed at seven bridges, causing major delays in traffic between Macon and Robins Air Force Base. Fort Stewart sends 100 soldiers to purify and distribute water.

Coming this week


Deluge: Wake of the '94 Flood Archives
 July 4  July 5  July 6  July 7  July 8  July 9  July 10  July 11

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