Murphy – Road-closing rock slides and clean-up from flooding followed a drenching storm early April 7.
The storm caused flooding along low-lying banks of the Hiwassee River and crept through crevices causing rock slides that temporarily closed two roads in Cherokee County later in the week.
The storm caused damage and loss of life in the South and Midwest the previous weekend before it reached this area. The storm brought 0.39 of an inch on April 6 and 2.95 inches on April 7 in Murphy, but brought much greater rainfall numbers down river of the Hiwassee – 4.2 inches of rain was reported April 7 in Hayesville.
Swollen tributaries led to flooding on the Hiwassee River just north and south of the U.S. 64 bridge near Peachtree.
Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Robin Caldwell said flooding was reported on Paradise Road, Beaver Ridge Road, McCombs Road, Bishop Lane and Smokeford Road – all in the Harshaw Road area south of U.S. 64 West. Properties in the Harshaw Farm Road gated community north of U.S. 64 were also affected.
On the afternoon of April 8, U.S. 64 Alternate between Murphy and Hendrix Road was closed temporarily following a rock slide. On Friday, Airport Road just west of Marble was temporarily closed, also following a rock slide.
Following the flood
Three days after the Hiwassee River flooded, residents along Beaver Ridge Road were recovering, with hired help pushing mud and debris from yards and mucking and gutting ground-floor spaces in buildings.
Anna White, a Georgia resident who owns a house on Beaver Ridge Road, was doing the work herself, while Servpro location manager Kyra Bledsoe assessed further steps Thursday, three days following the flood.
White said a neighbor contacted her about the flooding, and the crew she hired to cut her grass also contacted her to report that her lawn was covered in silt.
Beaver Ridge Road flooded near its intersection with Deerwood Lane on April 7 and was caked with mud during the days that followed.
White’s house had 6 inches of water and 3 inches of silt on the lower level of her house, which she has owned for about 10 years, but because this wasn’t the first time her neighborhood had flooded, she was prepared.
The bottom floor had already been stripped to the studs because of previous floods – “three times one year,” she said.
Her propane tank came loose and was disconnected, and her well pump was offline, but the electricity at her house was on.
She puzzled over a large log about 18 inches by 6 feet in her yard, probably left there when flooding receded.
Witnesses reported logs, trees, water tanks and even a shed floating down the Hiwassee River on April 7.
Upriver
The Hiwassee River in Clay County, which is upriver of where flooding occurred in Cherokee County, experienced significant flooding from heavy overnight rains, Clay County Emergency Management Director Jeff Ledford told the Clay County Progress in Hayesville.
Tusquittee and Brasstown creeks overflowed, he said. About 25 homes were affected, a bridge on Compass Creek washed out and several roads were temporarily closed, including Julie Buckner Road, Tusquittee Creek Road and Riverbend Road.