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One Year Later: The Flood Of 2009

This week marked one year since flooding left portions of Atmore, Flomaton and Brewton underwater, and a year since North Escambia residents along the Escambia River began to wonder if they were next. It also marked a year since a dramatic rescue of four people trapped in a flooded creek that was captured in photos on NorthEscambia.com.

When it started to rain the night of December 14, no one really knew just how much rain would fall. But it kept pouring, and pouring.

Atmore

Within a few hours, many streets in Atmore were under more than a foot of water, making it nearly impossible to travel more than few blocks. It was all hands on deck, with an overloaded Atmore Fire Department turning to the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department to assist with the rescue of stranded motorists and residents in flooded homes.

For more Atmore flooding photos, click here for a 2009 article.

By 9 p.m., a car had been swept off Deere Creek Road in Atmore, just north of the Florida line. Four people were trapped in the raging waters of Brushy Creek. Firemen tried unsuccessfully to use a human chain to reach the victims. A boat used in another rescue attempt was quickly capsized by the flood waters.

“Help me! Help me!” A faint voice could be heard calling for help from creek. “You’ve got to come get us.”

“I can’t hold on any more,” a victim clinging for his life to a tree yelled.

While rescue workers pondered their next move, Mike Allen of Atmore, a private citizen, arrived with a jet ski and rescued the four about two hours after they were first swept away.

For more on this story, and a gallery of dramatic photos, click here.

Pictured page top: Firefighters form a human chain in an attempt to rescue four people trapped in a flooded creek. Pictured inset: Mike Allen rescues a man that had been trapped for  two hours in the flood waters of Brushy Creek near Atmore.

(Article continues below photo)

Flomaton

By morning on December 15, rising water of Big Escambia Creek had flooded several parts of Flomaton, bringing the town to a virtual standstill.

Emergency workers were forced to rescue  about two dozen people — including nine in one family –  from homes and vehicles. The main intersection of Highway 31 and Highway 29 was closed Tuesday morning. Rising flood waters flooded several homes in the area behind Hardee’s and across the street from Flomaton High School. All traffic from Century into Flomaton was stopped. Coupled with the other flooded roads around the area, Flomaton was a near ghost town.

For more on the Flomaton flooding, click here for a 2009 story.

Pictured top: A boat used to navigate flooded streets in Flomaton. Pictured inset: Flooding in Flomaton, December 15, 2009.

Brewton

Also on December 15, a rapidly rising Murder Creek had flooded downtown Brewton, washing away hopes of a profitable Christmas for the town’s many downtown businesses. In all,  roads and bridges in Escambia County, Ala., suffered about $6 million in damage, prompting Alabama Gov. Bob Riley to declare a state of emergency.

For more in a 2009 article about flooding in Brewton, click here.

Pictured: An aerial view of downtown Brewton, Alabama, underwater on December 15, 2009.

North Escambia

As the flood waster pushed downstream, residents from Century to McDavid to Molino began to keep a close eye on the Escambia River and wonder just how high the river would go.

The Great Flood of 1929 caused major problems as the areas around Flomaton, Century, McDavid and Molino were flooded. But since then, the Escambia River has failed to reach the level that the National Weather Service terms “moderate” flood stage.

Flood stage on the Escambia River  is 17 feet, and moderate flood stage is 25 feet — a number the river level has only reached once in recorded history.

The river did not reach those historic levels,  but both the Escambia River and the Perdido River did cause North Escambia flooding. About dozen roads were closed from river and other lowland flooding.

To learn more about when flooding occurs on the Escambia River, click here for a December 16, 2009 story.

Pictured: Flooding on Occie Phillips Road near Walnut Hill, December 16, 2009.

NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.