Flooding and Lightning Strike in Georgia, March 3, 2001

Name: Flooding and Lightning Strike in Georgia, March 3, 2001
Start: 2001-03-03T22:00
End: 2001-03-03T23:35
Location: Georgia

March 3, 2001 · NWS FFC · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

2 flood, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 9:45 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 9:45 PM EST, 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
900 PM EST SAT MAR 3 2001

EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE PROBLEMS OCCUR JUST WHEN THEY ARE NEEDED
COMPLICATING FACTORS AS USUAL.

AT ANY RATE...LOTS GOING ON THIS EVENING TO SAY THE LEAST. NEW WW47
TORNADO WATCH JUST ISSUED FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PART OF FFC CWA
AND SOUTHWARD TO FL BORDER.  NONETHELESS...MAIN THREAT FOR FFC CWA
HAS NOT BEEN SEVERE WEATHER...BUT HEAVY RAIN.  SOME REPORTS OF
CREEKS RISING OUT OF THEIR BANKS IN UPSON COUNTY CAUSING A COUPLE OF
HOMES TO BE EVACUATED.

MAIN AREA OF PCPN MOVING THROUGH WESTERN PART OF CWA NOW...WITH
MAINLY ELEVATED CONVECTION NORTH OF CSG-MCN. MORE SIGNIFICANT
CONVECTION SOUTH OF CSG-MCN...AND EVEN THEN MAINLY SOUTH OF CWA.  AS
OF 9 PM...FFC HAS NOT ISSUED ANY SVR/TOR...AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY
WIND DAMAGE OR HAIL REPORTS TO THIS POINT. QUICK LOOK AT MODELS
INDICATES THAT MAIN ACTIVITY WILL MOVE THROUGH CWA BETWEEN NOW AND
09Z...THEN DRY SLOT SHOULD TAKE OVER EXCEPT IN EXTREME NORTH BY 09Z.

WILL ISSUE NEW SET OF ZONES NOW TO GET WATCH OUT.  DO NOT PLAN ON
MAKING ANY OTHER CHANGES AT THIS TIME.  WILL LET FFA CONTINUE UNTIL
MIDNIGHT AND THEN RE-EVALUATE NEED TO EXTEND FFA FURTHER...WHICH AT
THIS POINT I AM INCLINED NOT TO DO...BUT WILL DECIDE ON THAT LATER.

.ATL...
GA...TORNADO WATCH EXTREME S PORTION OF CWA.
GA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST WEST CENTRAL ZONES
     GAZ066>067...GAZ069...GAZ078>080...GAZ089>093...GAZ102>104.

RAB

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Carroll

When: March 3, 10:00 PM EST
Where: Carroll County, Carrollton
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.583, -85.080 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Times Georgian newspaper in Carrollton reported that lightning struck the First Baptist Church on Dixie Street in Carrollton. The lightning struck the church steeple and blew out several small stained glass windows and also damaged the stained glass protective cover over the front door. The sound system and organ were also damaged. In addition, the lightning damaged some galvanized pipe in the office, which caused a water leak and subsequent damage to the office area. It was also apparent that a fire had been started by the lightning, but heavy rain which followed quickly doused the fire.

Flood, Bibb

When: March 3, 10:45 PM EST
Where: Bibb County, Macon
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.807, -83.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Bibb county Emergency Management Director reported that some roads in the Lake Wildwood subdivision of Macon were reported to be 2 to 3 feet under water at some bridges.

Flood, Laurens

When: March 3, 11:35 PM EST
Where: Laurens County, Dublin
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.464, -82.922 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Laurens county 911 center reported flooding at some of the bridges in the city.

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5238732, 5238733, 5238734.