ATLANTA — Georgia residents returning Wednesday to homes soaked by days of torrential rains were warned of a hidden danger - disease-causing bacteria and jagged debris harbored by stagnant, murky water.
Standing water up to several feet deep was still pooled in some neighborhoods, including parts of Cobb County in the Atlanta area. Anyone venturing into a flooded yard or basement should wear rubber waders and surgical gloves, and items that were submerged should be cleaned with disinfectant, state emergency officials said.
Bacteria in water left behind after flooding can infect open wounds, and water could also contain harmful chemicals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"Clorox is going to be your best friend," state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said Wednesday.
Flooding at sewage plants in at least four Atlanta-area counties along the Chattahoochee River could add human waste and plant debris to the standing water in some neighborhoods, Oxendine said.
Residents of Stephens and Douglas counties were without running water late Wednesday morning, the emergency-management agency said.
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 sightwith just a slight chance of rain Wednesday, but the onslaught left many parts of the region in stagnant water.
Those conditions were keeping about 320 displaced residents at seven shelters around the state Wednesday, according to estimates from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
Johnnie Chavours said she has been praying to pass the time at a Red Cross shelter in Cobb County. She and her sons evacuated their apartment Monday night in Lithia Springs in Douglas County, and there was no word on when they could return.
Family members grabbed as much as they could before they were rescued by firefighters.
"We seen the water coming in through the wall," Chavours said as she sat on a green cot, rocking a friend's baby to sleep.
When they left, the water was up to the balcony of her third-floor apartment, and her neighbors below were completely submerged. Chavours worried about how much damage was done before she left, but is eager to get home.
"If I have a home there," she said.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 09/24/2009