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Death toll at 10 as Southeast floods start to ebb

As floodwaters around Atlanta began to recede, residents were packing moving vans with furniture and commiserating about water-logged apartments..
Heavy Rain Southeast
Mike Marcus, left, helps neighbor Mike McGee roll out a refrigerator ruined by floodwaters from Sweetwater Creek as they clean out his house Wednesday in the Austell, Ga. John Amis / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

As floodwaters around Atlanta began to recede, residents on Wednesday were packing moving vans with furniture and commiserating about water-logged homes.

"I'm toast," Penny Freeman, who moved into a first-floor apartment five days ago, said Tuesday. "I don't have a place to stay. I'm losing my mind right now."

President Barack Obama assured Georgia officials that requests for federal aid to deal with the flooding will "receive prompt attention," the White House said Wednesday. Obama called Gov. Sonny Perdue late Tuesday after the governor asked Obama to declare a state of emergency in Georgia. Officials estimated $250 million in damage in the state.

At least 10 deaths in Georgia and Alabama were blamed on the torrential downpours in the Southeast. The storms finally relented and relief was in sight with just a slight chance of rain Wednesday, but the onslaught left many parts of the region in stagnant water.

The latest victim, Richard Butler, 29, drowned after his car was apparently washed off a road near a creek Tuesday night in suburban Douglas County, west of Atlanta, county spokesman Wes Tallon said.

Washed-out roads and flooded freeways around metro Atlanta caused commuters headaches, though many major arteries had reopened by Tuesday night.

Many neighborhoods remained awash in several feet of murky, brown water, even as an emerging sun shed light on the widespread flood damage. Robert Blake, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said people should assume floodwater is contaminated and should be cautious when they return to their homes.

Most deaths were from drowning when cars were swept off roadways. Authorities released a 15-minute 911 call of a storm victim's last moments. Seydi Burciaga, 39, screamed to a dispatcher as water rose to her neck. The dispatcher advised her to try to break a window, but she couldn't.

"I don't want to drown here, please!" Burciaga said.

Boy drowned in search for victims
Eddie Stroup, an investigator with the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office in northwest Georgia, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 14-year-old Nicholas Osley drowned when he and a friend saw a Jeep in the water and dove in to see if there were any people who needed help. The current from the nearby Chattooga River swept them away, Stroup said. The friend survived.

After several days of steady rain, the ground was saturated from Alabama through Georgia into eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. The floods came just months after an epic two-year drought in the region ended with winter rains.

In Tennessee, a man was still missing after jumping into the fast-moving water as part of a bet. Boats and trucks evacuated 120 residents from a retirement center as nearby creeks rose, and several hundred others were ferried from low-lying neighborhoods and motels to dry land.

The devastation surrounding Atlanta was widespread. In Austell, about 17 miles west of downtown Atlanta, Sweetwater Creek overflowed its banks, sending muddy water rushing into a nearby mobile home park where several trailers were almost completely submerged.

"We don't know what to do," said Jenny Roque, 30, who lived there with her husband and four children. "The only thing we have left is our truck."

'It's just stuff'
Just down the road, in the Mulberry Creek subdivision, large houses built just five years ago were partially underwater. Some residents tried to salvage anything.

Deadly floods hit Georgia

Slideshow  18 photos

Deadly floods hit Georgia

Days of heavy rain turn docile creeks into surging rivers

"There's things that you can't replace, but it's just stuff," said Deborah Golden, whose split-level home was mostly underwater. "But there are four people in our family and we're all safe so we're glad for that."

Before being evacuated, Cordell Albert and her husband Christopher moved their valuables to the second floor of their Powder Springs home. The couple waded through knee-deep water before a raft picked them up.

"I feel lost," she said. "I feel homeless."

At one of the largest shelters at the Cobb County Civic Center, Shirley Jones sat with others on green cots, chatting about the fate of their homes. Around them, children played games, oblivious to the destruction.

"When I saw the water rising, it brought back bad memories," said Jones, who lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The 72-year-old had moved to the area two months ago.

Jones said rescue efforts this time went much more smoothly. A boat retrieved her from a family member's house.