Homeowners frustrated after flash flooding ravages Cobb County neighborhood

Homes and cars in a Cobb County neighborhood were destroyed after flash flooding hit a Cobb County neighborhood earlier this week.

Several homeowners feel like this situation could have been prevented.

Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was in Coopers Creek Circle in Cobb County, speaking to these frustrated neighbors.

The county says debris filled a culvert on a side of the neighborhood, clogging two county-owned pipes that collapsed.

The county hired two contractors, so they have crews out here removing debris to repair the pipes, but they say they can’t do anything about the culvert because it’s private property.

Earlier this year, homeowners said they began noticing a problem when it rained on Coopers Creek Circle.

“The water started to puddle, it started to rise,” Ritha McMeans said.

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McMeans says there were times when waters rose so high that they had to call the fire department.

McMeans and other homeowners contacted the county after that.

“We pressed that they send someone out to make sure the drains were clear and they did,” McMeans said.

Earlier this week, the cul-de-sac looked like a river as firefighters used inflatable boats to rescue families from their homes after flash flooding hit the area.

“We have people that are here, we are displaced from our homes, we don’t have cars, we are struggling with our livelihood,” McMeans said.

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The county says debris filled a culvert, clogging two 70-inch pipes that collapsed underneath Coopers Creek Drive.

Channel 2 Action News asked Cobb County Communications Director Ross Cavitt about the situation.

“Much of it appears to be involving the creek or culvert that runs behind the neighborhood that is privately owned property,” Cavitt said. “It’s private property’s creek a culvert a drainage ditch that the county does not own there’s nothing that we could really do about it.”

In the meantime, the county’s contractor is busy repairing the pipes that collapsed.

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