Floods Swamp Southern Cities; Thousands Flee Their Homes

Storm-choked rivers surged further beyond their banks in southern Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, driving families from their homes to join thousands who have fled from flooding that has led to at least 13 deaths throughout the South.

Military police officers guarded against looters in flood-ravaged southern Alabama, where the town of Elba remained a muddy hole Monday, two days after an earthen levee ruptured along the Pea River.

Water stood window-high on houses, but many of the 2,000 residents evacuated from the town began returning to their homes to salvage belongings.

An aerial survey by the Red Cross showed more than 600 homes in Elba swamped by 6 feet or more of water. Mayor Fred Moore said all but one of the town’s businesses were flooded.

Alabama Gov. Guy Hunt toured the flooded areas by helicopter Monday and asked President Bush to declare Coffee County in the far southeast corner of the state a federal disaster area. Coffee County includes Elba.

Runoff from as much as 18 inches of rain last week was expected to drive the Alabama River more than 20 feet above flood stage in the state capital of Montgomery, authorities said. Downstream in Selma, the river was already 18 feet beyond its banks and was expected to rise another 2 feet before cresting today.

The latest evacuations around those two cities Monday left as many as 800 people out of their homes in the immediate area, authorities said. The total number of evacuations in Alabama alone since last weekend exceeded 4,000.

Floodwaters that ravaged northern Georgia moved south Monday, forcing more evacuations and traffic problems as rain-swollen rivers and streams left their banks. The Chattahoochee River, which crested Saturday at its highest level in 44 years in the Atlanta area, was at 41 feet Monday, well past its flood stage of 34 feet.

Authorities evacuated low-lying areas along the river near Columbus, Ga., including a trailer park.

The Ocmulgee River, with a flood stage of 18 feet, reached 29.5 feet Monday morning and was nearing a crest of about 30 feet, said Russell Post, a National Weather Service hydrologist.

The Flint River at Montezuma, Ga., was on its way to an expected crest of 26 feet today, which would be its highest since at least 1971, Post said. Some residents were being evacuated.

In the Florida Panhandle, more than 1,200 people were evacuated as of Monday.