DUBLIN, Ga. — Clean up and recovery efforts are underway in Baldwin and Troup counties but now the upmost concern is flooding.
The Oconee River touches areas like Dublin and Milledgeville. Along Rex Miller Road in East Dublin the river could rise to almost 27 feet by Thursday.
Ryan O'Neal owns Jack's Place on the River. He says back in '98 they had three feet of flooding from the Oconee River.
O'Neal says his father-in-law owned Jack's on the River. At that time, the depth of the river reached about 32 feet and the restaurant had to close down for a time.
"I would guess probably a few weeks, between cleanup and getting everything up in operation," O'Neal said.
According to Laurens County EMA Director Bill Laird, the depth of the river is normally five feet deep but with all this rain the depth is now 13 feet.
The minor flood stage is at around 21 feet. He says Thursday night into early Friday morning the river is predicted to reach 26.7 feet.
"At 26.7 we really don't get nervous until it starts talking about anything above 28 feet," O'Neal said.
On Wednesday in Laurens County they plan to close off all the boat ramps until the river gets back down to before flood stage. Laird says one advantage to river flooding as opposed to tornadoes or flash flooding is the ability to know what areas need help.
"We know what areas are affected at what depth. So, we know exactly how many homes are going to be affected and how high the waters got to get before it actually affects those homes," Laird said.
If the water levels stay at 26 feet or below. Laird says less than 10 homes should be impacted. But, this weekend could still be a concern if more rain comes.
"It would have the potential for flash flooding depending on how much rain that we could get. Because any rain that comes down would not be able to run off into the river because the river is full," Laird said.
Laird says at the 26 foot mark there might be about a foot of flooding on the roadway on Rex Miller road. He says if the forecast is correct they will have to close the road.