While the devastation from recent floods in Atlanta, Georgia, looks like the result of a storm that formed over tropical waters, the floods are actually the result of prolonged and steady rains. Rains have been drenching the city for about eight days because weather conditions have caused storms to stick in place. So that, in part, is what has caused the severe flooding -- not torrential rains or high winds, often associated with stronger tropical storms, which form over oceans instead of land. "This is something that's really impacting a lot of people and scientifically, it's an event that we don't see too often here in Atlanta -- especially when it's not connected to a tropical system." A low-pressure storm system moved into Georgia during the middle of last week. When it arrived, it feathered up next to a high-pressure system that was hovering over the East Coast. The result: It got stuck. The atmosphere over north Georgia is completely saturated with water. A new storm system has moved into place now and, at any disturbance, is ready to drop more water on Atlanta. "It's just sitting there waiting for someone to wring the washcloth." The storm that remained stuck over Atlanta on Monday previously had brought needed rain to southern Texas. It sucked its moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That system dissipated late Monday, but another has moved in to take its place.
Responding to the rain, creeks and rivers in metro Atlanta are overflowing in some places, setting NEW RECORDS. The Chattahoochee River in northeast Atlanta rose to a height not seen since 1919. Flood warnings are in place through Saturday.
