Heavy rains are bringing flooding to a large part of the Eastern and Southern United States. Some areas have seen as much as 16-17 inches of water fall in less than 24 hours.

Other areas keep getting hammered with more and more rain, leaving nowhere for the water to go. In Cobb Country, Georgia, the heavy rains and rising waters prompted the fire department to step in.

Daycare Rescue

A daycare in Austell, George was hit with so much water that the local fire department had to come to rescue them. Cobb firefighters removed around three dozen people from knee-deep water.

The stream near the daycare overflowed its banks because there had been so much rain over the last weeks. According to Cobb Fire spokesperson Nick Danz, there was so much rain in the past week that the recent heavy rain was produced too much water for the storm culvert to hold.

It began to overflow and flood areas to the east of Sanders Elementary school. Flooding was primarily at the intersection of Anderson Mill Road and Brookwood Drive.

"The call we got was that there was rapidly moving water, quickly rising, overcoming the daycare. By the time we got there, there were areas that were waist deep in water."

Nick Danz

Taken To Safety

The total number of people stuck at the Always Kids Child Care Center was 31, 27 kids, and four adults. Firefighters carried some children out, while firefighters brought others out on a raft.

The children and adults were put on a school bus and taken to the nearby Sanders Elementary school. Many of the children's parents were there waiting for them to arrive.

Danz said that by 6 p.m., many of the children cared for at Always Kids had been picked up by their parents. He also said that water levels had already started to go down. However, the intersection had barricades up because of the predicted two additional inches of rain.

Danz and the Cobb County firefighters hope to avoid any further need for rescues in the upcoming days. However, Danz said that if a road has been flooded and you do not know the depth of the water, do not cross it.

The water had receded entirely in the daycare, but it left behind a bit of a mess and the uncertainty of whether or not they will open the following day.