Miscellaneous September 2009 Flooding Pictures

An overflowing sewer on Riverside Road, Roswell, Georgia. Likely this is a storm sewer, designed to carry stormwater runoff off of streets, that cannot handle the volume of runoff.
In older sections of Atlanta there are combined sewer systems that are sewers that are designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe. These overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs) contain not only stormwater but also untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They are a major water pollution concern for the approximately 772 cities in the U.S. that have combined sewer systems (EPA). The City of Atlanta is spending about $3 billion dollars to put in separate storm and waste systems in the metro Atlanta area. Photo by Alan Cressler, USGS.

Normal flow conditions at Big (Vickery) Creek, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Roswell, Fulton County, Georgia. Photo by Alan Cressler, USGS.

Flood conditions, Sept. 21st, 2009, at Big (Vickery) Creek, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Roswell, Fulton County, Georgia. Photo by Alan Cressler, USGS.

Water being released from the Morgan Falls Dam, Chattahoochee River, City of Sandy Springs, Fulton and Cobb Counties, Georgia. Photo by Alan Cressler, USGS.