- Flood
- Water
- September 26-27, 2024
- City of Atlanta
Helene flood on Peachtree Creek (2024)
On September 27, 2024, rain from Hurricane Helene pushed Peachtree Creek to 23.75 ft at the Northside Drive gauge, the highest stage in the USGS peak record there and just above 2009's 23.7 ft. Its flow, about 20,000 cfs, was second only to the estimated 21,000 cfs of 1919.
The record
The AJC reported the 23.75 ft reading as a new record; the National Weather Service's crest history for the gauge instead lists 23.51 ft for 2024 and ranks the 1919 flood (25.8 ft) and the 2009 flood (23.7 ft) higher. Atlanta firefighters made water rescues through the night, taking 25 residents from the Peachtree Park Apartments, seven from the Hyde Manor neighborhood, and a couple, their infant and two dogs from the roof of a car on Bohler Road (AJC). USGS peak records show the same storm set the largest flow on the South Fork of Peachtree Creek at Johnson Road since records began in 1961 (5,010 cfs) and the largest discharge yet recorded on Utoy Creek at Great Southwest Parkway (an estimated 3,690 cfs, though that gauge has no discharge figure for the 2009 flood). On the South River at Flakes Mill Road the water reached 21.42 ft, the highest stage since records began in 1951, although the 1961 flood carried more water.
Today: The gauge at Northside Drive; flood-prone apartments and golf courses along the creek.