Emergency crews and residents are clearing mud and debris across North Georgia and southeastern Tennessee on Friday, November 6, 2026, after overnight flash flooding along the Toccoa River forced more than 80 rescues. Officials in McCaysville, Georgia, have shut down the city’s damaged municipal water treatment plant, ordered a mandatory nightly curfew, and opened a drinking water distribution site behind City Hall as Fannin County schools and government offices remain closed.
Between 8 and 11 inches of rain fell late Wednesday into early Thursday across the mountains of northern Georgia and neighboring Polk County, Tennessee, prompting a National Weather Service Flash Flood Emergency. The Toccoa River, which becomes the Ocoee River as it crosses the state line connecting McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, TN, rose roughly 16 feet in 12 hours, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. National Weather Service gauge data cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 95.5 WSB Radio showed the river cresting at 18.05 feet at 7:00 a.m. Thursday, passing the previous record of 17.75 feet set in February 1990. FOX 5 Atlanta rounded those readings to about 18 feet and approximately 17.8 feet, noting that final historical gauge rankings remain subject to agency confirmation.
Rescues and emergency declarations in McCaysville Georgia
First responders using motorized rafts, boats, and a U.S. Army Blackhawk medical helicopter searched for stranded residents as floodwaters inundated homes and businesses along the state line. While McCaysville Public Safety Director and Police Chief Michael O. Earley initially reported about 45 rescues in the city on Thursday morning, officials updated the total by Thursday afternoon to more than 80 rescues across Fannin County and the twin border communities, 11Alive reported.
Emergency management officials across the four affected Georgia counties reported zero injuries, though a few residents visited hospitals for precautionary evaluations. At the height of Thursday morning’s flooding in downtown McCaysville, a propane tank caught fire and exploded.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a seven-day state of emergency on Thursday for Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, and Union counties to make state resources available for response and recovery operations. The state declaration remains active until just before midnight on Thursday, November 12. After closing campuses in Fannin and Gilmer counties on Thursday, officials kept Fannin County schools and government offices closed on Friday for damage assessments and cleanup.
Water plant shutdown, curfew, and Friday distribution
Flood damage forced a complete shutdown of the McCaysville municipal water treatment plant, leaving the city with no estimated timeline for restoring operations. All customers on the McCaysville water system are under an indefinite boil-water advisory requiring tap water to be brought to a full rolling boil for at least one minute before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth.
To supply affected households, the City of McCaysville is distributing clean bottled drinking water on Friday, November 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the building directly behind McCaysville City Hall. City officials stated via 11Alive that they recognize the hardship the disaster has placed on families and businesses, adding that municipal staff and public safety crews are working under difficult conditions to restore essential services.
Under a local state of emergency declared Thursday morning, Chief Earley also instituted a mandatory daily curfew from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. starting Thursday night. The curfew covers the Downtown McCaysville Business District, East Tennessee Avenue, West Tennessee Avenue, and Toccoa Avenue. Police checkpoints are stationed at restricted entry points to block non-residents and non-business owners while crews clear debris and secure damaged buildings.
Business owners spent Thursday and Friday surveying interior flood lines that reached five feet inside Hugh Rogers’ store, McCaysville Drug & Gun. At Nature’s Collectibles General Store in McCaysville, owner Kim Bowers told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “It’s unbelievable what we’ve lost.”
Second major flood since August
Thursday’s deluge struck a border community still recovering from flash flooding three months ago. In early August 2026, heavy rain washed dirt and construction debris from Georgia Highway 5 into McCaysville’s drainage system, flooding the police department and post office, damaging the municipal water treatment facility, and triggering a boil-water advisory. Before this week, the Toccoa River’s modern benchmark in McCaysville was the February 1990 flood, which reached the second floors of downtown buildings, damaged 34 homes and 50 businesses, and caused an estimated $1.25 million in losses, according to FOX 5 Atlanta citing United Press International.
Although sunny weather returned to North Georgia on Friday, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesperson Scott Fiedler warned via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that heavy runoff from mountain streams continues to feed the Toccoa and Ocoee watershed, and urged residents to remain cautious near the river over the next several days as water levels fluctuate. In McCaysville, the nightly 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew and the system-wide boil-water advisory remain in effect until further notice.