18 Dead in Georgia Floods as Storm Hits for 4th Day

Divers searched for bodies in murky floodwaters and rescuers plucked people hanging from a tree Thursday as rain fell for the fourth straight day in southwestern Georgia. The death toll reached 18.

More than 300,000 people were without safe drinking water for a second day, after floodwaters from remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto knocked out water treatment plants. Tens of thousands of acres of prime farmland were under water, while cities along the Flint River braced for a record flood.

President Clinton on Thursday authorized federal disaster aid for four Georgia counties.

Eighteen people have been killed, 10 of them in Americus, as flash floods swept through. Four people were reported missing, although Sumter County Coroner Lynwood McClung held out hope. “These creeks went way back in the woods. It’s possible we could find these people hanging in trees, still alive,” he said.

In Macon, about 80 miles northeast of Americus, firefighters on a hook-and-ladder truck rescued three men from a tree in the raging Ocmulgee River.

Residents of Albany prepared for the worst as the Flint River flowed over its banks and sent water rushing into streets in a low-lying area. At least 14,000 residents were ordered to evacuate.

“We’re just trying to reinforce the levees with sandbags,” Albany State College spokeswoman Jackie Ryan said.

The Flint is expected to reach 44 feet--24 feet above flood stage--by Saturday. Most Albany businesses sent employees home, and a dusk-to-dawn curfew was ordered.

The Ocmulgee was believed to have crested at 35 feet Thursday at Macon, where the flood stage is 18 feet. But officials could not say for sure because the river gauge was swept away.

About 150,000 people in Macon and surrounding areas have been without water since the treatment plant flooded Wednesday. Statewide, more than 300,000 people were without water.

Water was brought to some areas by tanker trucks. At one water distribution site, 750 people stood in line. People were asked to restrict themselves to one gallon per house, but some walked away with five gallons.

“I’ll check with some of my homebound friends to see if they could use a jug or two,” said Mary Eva DuBose, who was carrying five empty jugs.

Water covered almost 60,000 acres of peanuts, 19,000 acres of cotton and 10,000 acres of corn. Crops could be saved if there is a break in the rain.

Peanut and cotton farmer James Short said his land “is rolling enough so that not a lot of it’s going to stay under for more than a few days.”

Damage to government-owned structures alone was put at $58 million.

As rain continued to fall across southeast Alabama, some 2,500 people were evacuated from the levee area of Geneva, a town of about 4,600 near the Florida line where two rivers converge. At Elba, where more than 1,200 were evacuated earlier, the Pea River climbed more than 20 feet in about 24 hours to 38 feet Thursday morning--six feet from the top of the levee.

In Florida, state officials predicted that the Chipola River, with a flood stage of 19 feet at Marianna, could crest near 30 feet today. Similar conditions were forecast for three other rivers.