KINGSLAND, Ga. —
Camden County officials are telling owners of about 45 homes to evacuate as floodwaters from the St. Marys River are cutting off their only access road.
Mark Crews, the county’s emergency management director, said evacuation orders were issued Saturday because officials don’t want residents to get trapped in the low-lying Flea Hill community west of Kingsland. There’s only one road leading in. Crews says it’s already under more than a foot of water.
The river forming the Georgia-Florida border near the coast is overflowing with rainwater from Tropical Storm Debby. In neighboring Charlton County, it crested at 12 feet above flood stage Thursday. That water’s now moving into Camden County.
Crews says flooding could continue for three or four days. More than 80 homes could be affected.
Residents in Georgia’s southeast corner loaded vehicles with their belongings and sought higher ground Saturday as water from the swollen St. Marys River began spilling into yards and rising toward homes near its banks.
“This is all fluid. It’s rising as we speak now,” Camden County Emergency Management director Mark Crews said Saturday. “People are still packing their stuff and trying to get out.”
Dozens of homeowners along a 10-mile stretch of the river west of Kingsland have spent days moving lawn furniture and stockpiling sandbags after the river crested at 12 feet about flood stage last week in neighboring Charlton County. The St. Marys River forms the Georgia-Florida border near the coast, and excess water dumped by Tropical Storm Debby is still working its way downstream.
Crews estimates 80 or more homes are threatened by flooding. The big unknown is how deep the water will get. The last time the river flooded here in April 2009, about 40 homes were swamped with about a foot of water. National Weather Service forecasters predict the coming floodwaters will likely surpass that.
In addition to a flood warning, Camden County was facing a heat advisory Saturday with temperatures expected to rise near 100 degrees — with the maximum heat index forecast as high as 112 degrees.
“We are concerned about that, but there’s not much the county can do,” Crews said, adding that residents who fear they may lose electricity should leave and take shelter somewhere that has air-conditioning.
In neighboring Charlton County, located on the eastern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, floodwaters continued to recede Saturday and work crews had mostly reopened 47 roads that were closed by the flooding.
Officials said at least 15 homes were confirmed to have flooded, and they estimate the total is closer to 60. Most took on a foot or two of water, county officials said, though at least one home had water up to its roofline
“We won’t be able to get assessment teams in there until Monday” to get a more accurate picture of the damage to homes, said Al Crace, the county administrator.
The surge of stormwater from Debby was still working its downstream through Charlton County, passing the city of Folkston, Saturday after cresting in the county’s southernmost tip Thursday. Crace said Folkston and most surrounding neighborhoods were built outside the floodplain and at no risk, though a few homes closer to the river took on water.
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