Altamaha River still rising, may set flood record

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. – More than 120 counties in Georgia under a state of emergency because of flooding and some of the worst is in northern Glynn County. The Altamaha River currently at 16.1 feet and experts are predicting it will come up another 7 inches by Wednesday, which could make a record.

The State Operations Center is operating at a Level Two, meaning more resources are on hand.

Ray Potter works at Altamaha Regional Park and owns a cabin there. He said flooding hasn’t been this bad since 2016. He took our News4Jax crew for a boat ride to get a closer look.

“The only thing that you can do is let it come up and, when it falls back out, clean it up,” Potter said.

During the ride, our crews saw a playground under water, roads submerged and a boat is the only way to get around.

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Rose Reynolds has been living here on and off since she was 5. Her daughter is the park manager.

“We used to literally go by boat to get to the school bus with the road,” Reynolds said.

The campground and cabins have been evacuated except for those of Reynolds and Potter. They are expecting more floodwaters to come.

Reynolds said the silver lining to the flooding is that, “we’re close-knit and we’ve all got each other‘s back and we help each other regroup.”

“If it floods, I’ll just squeegee the water out, vacuum what we can and open the doors and let it dry out. And right back to staying in it and going fishing,” Potter said.

Georgia Emergency Management is using social media to remind people to be safe around standing water.

It only takes 1 foot of standing water to float a full-sized automobile and 2 feet can sweep it away.

“At this time please do not come into the park,” Reynolds said. “If you try to come in by vehicle, there are several washouts and several vehicles have already gotten stuck."