I knew several of these people…it’s just so sad…
Death toll from flooding rises to six
by Winston Jones/Sentinel
The Douglas County flooding death toll rose to six Tuesday evening.
A unidentified young man was found Tuesday evening on Ragan Road near Town Creek, according to Wes Tallon, Douglas County director of Communications & Community Relations.
The man’s vehicle appears to have been washed off the roadway by flash flooding, according to Tallon, and the body was found away from the automobile.
No other information was available as of press time.
A woman’s body was found Tuesday afternoon behind a Reynolds Road subdivision where her car had been washed away early Monday morning.
Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel identified the victim as Emeteria Howe, age unknown, of Douglasville.
Daniel said Howe was traveling on Stewart Mill Road about 2:30 a.m. Monday after being called to work. Her husband reported her missing after she failed to show up at her job.
The swift current of the stream washed her car off the road and downstream to an area behind the British Manor subdivision off Reynolds Road.
“People reported seeing a car back there Tuesday afternoon and a search team was sent out,” Daniel said. “They found her body close to the car.”
The four other county flood fatalities include:
• Donald Warlow, 50, of Little Vine Road in Villa Rica, who was washed downstream from where his car was swept off North Helton Road early Monday morning;
• Kevin Hodges, 29, of Douglasville, whose body was found near the junction of Pool Mill and Banks Mill roads in the southwestern part of the county;
• Kelley Smith, 29, of Carrollton, whose body was found in water off Banks Mill Road at Giles Road;
• and Delena Weathers, 26, of Carrollton, whose body was found about 5 p.m. Monday in a resident’s back yard along the banks of Dog River near Highway 5.
Rain had stopped falling Tuesday afternoon and the sun came out, but additional rain and thundershowers are in the forecast for the remainder of the week, according to the Weather Channel.
Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that he has asked President Obama for an emergency declaration to assist 17 Georgia counties with recovery efforts due to flooding and severe storms. Perdue issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in the counties of Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Clayton, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens and Walker.
Douglas County schools were closed Monday and Tuesday and a decision is expected today on whether the schools will reopen Thursday.
Pete Frost, executive director of the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority, said he hopes the majority of customers will have service restored by Sunday night.
A 4 p.m. Thursday open house and dedication of the new county fire training facility on Wortham Road has been postponed to a later date, which will be announced after the emergency is over, said Wes Tallon, county communications and community relations director.
