White's Bridge Road was cut into to relieve backed up flood water. The much needed rains came and were welcome until they started flooding homes long before the projected crest came.

This was nothing new for Miller County. In 1998, Colquitt and much of Miller County went under water when the rains brought Spring Creek to a crest of 24 feet. The projected crest for Wednesday, August 27, was 22 feet high.

According to people in northwestern part of Miller County, they had gotten over 20 inches of rain since Tropical Storm Fay came in.

EMS Director Debbie Henry stated that on Wednesday, August 27, Spring Creek had risen to 17.6 feet.

On Tuesday, August 26, after Miller County Commissioners were made aware that Spring Creek was backing up into the large drain ditch going through Colquitt, the road at White's Bridge was checked. That road was damming the storm water runoff as it did in 1998. The flood waters were coming into the homes at Ole Mill Acres just off of SR 310 south.

The county commission office contacted the Department of Natural Resources, the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Department as to what would happen if the White's Bridge Road was cut to relieve some of the water pressure. Those officials stated that was the county's call.

In a statement from the Miller County Commissioners, Chairman Barbie Womble said she called Allen Worsley, commissioner for District 3, and asked him to meet her at Ole Mill Acres to assess the situation. Womble stopped at Colquitt Funeral Home at 108 Grow Street, where flooding had occurred in 1998 from a ditch behind the funeral home. This ditch had stopped running and was now starting to back up. At Ole Mill Acres, water was rising, and some homes were being threatened due to the rising water. We contacted Debbie Henry, the Miller County EMA director, who said she would call the National Weather Center for a flood stage report and a projection on the crest of Spring Creek. Commissioners Worsley and Womble discussed the possibility of cutting the road at White Bridge Road to alleviate the flood waters in the flooding areas upstream. They then drove to White's Bridge Road to assess the situation there. Due to the fact that the situation was reaching an emergency state, the two commissioners called commissioners Jinks, Phillips and Small. Debbie Henry was still awaiting information from the National Weather Service; however, the commissioners felt they could not wait any longer. The Miller County Board of Commissioners made a unanimous decision to cut the road in the curve west of the bridge over Spring Creek on White's Bridge Road. After the decision was made to cut the road, Womble went to Colquitt to sign a declaration that stated Miller County was declared to be in an emergency state.

After the White's Bridge Road was flooded in 1998, the idea to put additional pipes under the roadway to relieve the water pressure came to a halt. It was determined that this was too costly at the time. There had been two bridges at that point before the new road and bridge were constructed. The road fill became a dam.

Tuesday, August 26, Spring Creek rose to flood stage for the first time since the floods of 1998. The near-dry Spring Creek covered thousands of acres along the creek bed that is nearly filled with sand and logs.

Governor Sonny Perdue declared six Southwest Georgia counties as state disaster areas following flooding and wind damage from Tropical Storm Fay, authorities said.

Baker, Grady, Miller, Thomas, Decatur and Seminole counties, along with Southeastern Charlton County, made the disaster area list.

"While we are very fortunate to not have witnessed the full extent of Tropical Storm Fay, there has been considerable damage to roads, homes and farmland," Perdue said in a press release. "Our goal is to assist these counties with state equipment and personnel in order to handle extensive repairs."

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency is heading up recovery efforts and has representatives in the counties assessing damage and providing assistance, the Governor's office said Thursday.

In addition, GEMA has activated the Georgia Emergency Operations Plan, which gives them access to state resources for use in the damaged counties.

Fay flooded much of Florida on a zigzag course before dumping double-digit rain figures throughout Southwest Georgia, killing one and flooding parts of Miller, Decatur, Thomas and Grady Counties.

The declaration comes as Hurricane Gustav churns through the Western Caribbean on a path for the Gulf Coast, potentially becoming a rain event for the affected areas.

Dougherty EMA Director James Carswell said state officials are watching Gustav closely and are concerned that it may make less of a westerly turn as expected and become a significant "event" for the area.

"It's of some concern," Carswell said, "mainly if it intensifies but slows or keeps its same pace. If it ends up coming more east, near Mobile as an example, then we could see a significant event."

Landfall for Hurricane Gustav is expect early next week, he said.