Was there flooding in Decatur? (Atlanta, Roswell: insurance, mortgage, buying a house)

[abaalltheway]

Hi there,

We may be moving to Atlanta next year and most likely we will be focusing on Decatur. How affected was Decatur by the flooding? Were there some areas more affected than others? Hope everyone is OK!

Thanks!

[Iconographer]

Not that I'm aware of. Not seriously. The majority of serious flooding seemed to take place on the west side of the metro.

[Dymediva21]

I live in stone mountain, not far from Decatur; there was no flooding our way, most was, like was posted b4, in the west atlanta metro area and places like in Cobb county and Alpharetta and Roswell.

[IntownHomes247]

Here's a shot of some flooding in North Decatur.

30033talk.com » THE FLOOD of 2009

It wasn't as bad here as in the western counties, but it was unpleasant enough. It's easy enough to avoid flood-prone areas when buying a house. Your Realtor can help you with that or feel free to DM me and I'll be happy to answer questions.

[FromCLTtoATL]

I live just outside Decatur, in Scottdale. My neighborhood was fine, and on my 10-mile route to downtown Atlanta, only one street was blocked off because of floodwaters.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

nope

[IntownHomes247]

Honestly, the only reason we didn't have lots more damage and more road closings (my street was closed due to flooding but only for a matter of hours) is because we escaped the heaviest part of the rain. If we had had the same amount of rain that hit Austell, the water would have been up to windows (and possibly higher) in areas here too (some of my neighbors actually did have flooding up to their windows). According to the DeKalb watershed people, about 15% of homes in DeKalb county are in a floodplain (and yes, that includes homes inside the City of Decatur).

We didn't have the issue with street closure/bridge damage that the western counties had because our major arteries don't cross the Chattahoochee, but there are are multiple creeks and streams that run through Decatur and DeKalb county and they are spanned by many outdated bridges.

There's virtually no way to completely avoid the possibility that similar damage to what happened in Austell could happen here, but when you're buying into a neighborhood, you should pay attention to floodplain maps, know whether there are any creeks and streams nearby, and consider getting flood insurance even if you're not required to by your mortgage company. It's a calculated risk -- the odds are generally good that you'll never need it, but if you do need it and don't have it, you could be wiped out financially if a freak storm like this one hits.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by IntownHomes247

Honestly, the only reason we didn't have lots more damage and more road closings (my street was closed due to flooding but only for a matter of hours) is because we escaped the heaviest part of the rain. If we had had the same amount of rain that hit Austell, the water would have been up to windows (and possibly higher) in areas here too (some of my neighbors actually did have flooding up to their windows). According to the DeKalb watershed people, about 15% of homes in DeKalb county are in a floodplain (and yes, that includes homes inside the City of Decatur).

We didn't have the issue with street closure/bridge damage that the western counties had because our major arteries don't cross the Chattahoochee, but there are are multiple creeks and streams that run through Decatur and DeKalb county and they are spanned by many outdated bridges.

There's virtually no way to completely avoid the possibility that similar damage to what happened in Austell could happen here, but when you're buying into a neighborhood, you should pay attention to floodplain maps, know whether there are any creeks and streams nearby, and consider getting flood insurance even if you're not required to by your mortgage company. It's a calculated risk -- the odds are generally good that you'll never need it, but if you do need it and don't have it, you could be wiped out financially if a freak storm like this one hits.

Hadn't thought about all the floodplain in Medlock Park until you posted this, Intown...I can see that being a real problem. How did the park itself fare?

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Hadn't thought about all the floodplain in Medlock Park until you posted this, Intown...I can see that being a real problem. How did the park itself fare?

It was well underwater. Very icky. But the neighborhood held a park clean-up this past weekend. Hopefully they got everything disinfected.

[floyd242]

Druid Hills Youth Sports (http://www.dhys.org/2009FloodShots.html - broken link)

Medlock park/neighborhood pics