Floods

As Hurricane Matthew moved up the Atlantic coast of the U.S., the USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) deployed most of the USGS Storm-Tide Network along the Atlantic coast to monitor the timing, extent, and magnitude of the storm tide during the passage of Hurricane Matthew.

Many days of continuous heavy rain in mid-September 2009 resulted in flooding in many parts of Georgia, especially in north Georgia and the Atlanta region. The rains produced streamflows of record proportions. rivers and streams had magnitudes so great that the odds of it happening were less than 0.2 percent in any given year. In other words, there was less than a 1 in 500 chance that parts of...

Current and Historical Peak Stage Bar Graphs for North Carolina The Peak Stage Bar Graphs section for North Carolina allows you to compare current stream stage with historic peaks at water-monitoring sites throughout North Carolina.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has created flood-inundation maps for selected streamgage sites in North Carolina. These maps depict the approximate area that would be inundated at selected water levels, ranging from approximately top-of-bank to the maximum observed water level. The inundated areas depicted on these maps are approximate, and accuracy of the maps is a function of the accuracy of...

The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above the Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, failed in the early morning hours of November 6, 1977. Thirty-nine people died in the resulting flood, which inundated part of the campus including a trailer park. These Web pages make available two historical reports on the flood and an album of photos of the disaster.

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are essential for such things as the design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, flood insurance studies, and flood-plain management. Flood-frequency estimates are particularly important in densely populated urban areas. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is using a multistate approach to update methods for determining the...

Peachtree Creek WaterWatch, Atlanta, GA Peachtree Creek is a major tributary to the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, GA. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring stream stage and streamflow at or near the Northside Drive gage location since 1958. The Peachtree Creek watershed occupies a large portion of the northeast metro Atlanta area and collects precipitation runoff that drains into...