Flooding in the Southeast

Heavy rains, beginning on September 19th, dumped between 15 and 20 inches of rain over three days on parts of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The deluge overwhelmed natural and man made systems, and the record-breaking downpour turned streams into rivers, swamping neighborhoods, washing out roads and, unfortunately, taking at least nine lives. Damage costs are estimated at $250 million, the cleanup just now beginning. Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue recently announced that President Obama has issued a Federal Disaster Declaration for individual assistance to aid residents of five affected counties. Collected here are a few recent photos around the area, largely centered on Atlanta, Georgia

1. A motorist abandons her flooded vehicle on I-85 South near Lilburn, Ga., as part of the highway becomes covered with water during rush hour on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Curtis Compton)
2. Fans stand in a heavy rain during a weather delay before the Auburn Tigers face the West Virginia Mountaineers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Auburn, Alabama. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
3. Residents keep an eye on the water as they drive their truck across a flooded road from their subdivision, which was cut off due to flooding from heavy rains, in Lawrenceville, Georgia September 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Tami Chappell)
4. Ceasar Rendon, shields the sun as he, along with Marco Girron, left, and son Ceasar Rendon watch Sweetwater Creek rage up to the roof of the auto repair shop where he works, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)
5. Flooded homes are shown in Mableton, Ga., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
6. A roller coaster at Six Flags of Georgia Amusement Park is flooded on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 in Austell, Ga. Several days of heavy rain has flooded parts of the Atlanta area. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
7. John Barry carries Ruby across Maxwell Road in East Ridge, near Chattanooga, Tenn., to his brother's house on the dryer side of the road on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009, as flood waters covered many area streets and yards. (AP Photo/Angela Lewis, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
8. Fulton County Firefighter Fred Brown looks over the bridge on MLK Drive into the rising Chattahoochee River for a man reported floating down the river on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. The bridge separates Cobb County from Fulton County. The water was less than 2 feet below the cars on the bridge. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Johnny Crawford)
9. The roof of an auto shop is barely visible above swollen Sweetwater Creek after heavy rains of recent days caused the creek to flood, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)
10. Pat Crawford cries as she holds a photo of her 2-year-old grandson Preston Slade Crawford, right in photograph, who died Monday, Sept. 21, 2009, when his home was washed into the Snake Creek in Carrollton, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
11. Flood waters from the Sweetwater Creek stream across the closed Veterans Memorial Highway September 22, 2009 in Austell, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
12. Roofs of flooded homes in Mableton, Ga., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
13. A local couple canoes through Atlanta's famous Krog Tunnel on September 21st, 2009 (© Caroline Smith)
14. Flood waters engulf an Austell neighborhood in Atlanta Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 after torrential rains soaked the area for days. (AP Photo/Journal Constitution, Phil Skinner)
15. A submerged truck is shown in flood waters in Mableton, Ga., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
16. Jennifer Bozeman, 19, and Nabor Torres stand at the edge of Sweetwater Creek after it overflowed its banks and left the mobile home park where they live flooded Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)
17. Calby Haught of Austell, Georgia rests at the American Red Cross emergency shelter September 22, 2009 in Marietta, Georgia. Haught escaped chest-level water that was consuming his mobile home in Austell and spent four hours in the water helping other flood victims. Flooding due to rain forced people out of their homes and closed hundreds of streets around metro Atlanta. The American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta for displaced flood victims. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
18. An unidentified man looks back at tractor trailer cars washed against a bridge going over Sweetwater Creek, left there by flood waters from recent rains, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)
19. Blake Fowler looks at a washed-out road near his home in Winston, Ga. Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal Constitution, John Spink)
20. Gwinnett fire crews retrieve a rescue boat in the Yellow River on Monday, Sep. 21, 2009 off Arcado Road in Lilburn, Ga. The boat overturned earlier in the day and was pushed down stream. The vehicle shown was swept away from a nearby lot. (AP Photo/Jason Braverman, Gwinnett Daily Post)
21. From left: Garrett Jacobs, Dakota Nelson, and Levi Wright move a barricade to higher ground after flood waters from the Yellow River continued to rise Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 in Lilburn. Ga. The community canceled their beach bash, which was scheduled for Monday night. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)
22. Homes in the Sweetwater Creek area of Atlanta, Georgia sit submerged in flood waters, in this aerial view taken September 23, 2009. (REUTERS/David Tulis)
23. Ruxandra Tocito braves a flooded road to head to her nursing job at Emory Hospital from her subdivision, which was cut off due to flooding from heavy rains, in Lawrenceville, Georgia September 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Tami Chappell)
24. John Knox takes his kayak back to his house on Paces Ferry Drive as he ferried supplies to and from his house which is 5 feet underwater in Vinings, Ga. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. The Chattahoochee River's level near Vinings was at 27.36 feet before daybreak Tuesday after cresting at 28.1 feet overnight, the second highest on record, exceeded only by a crest of 29 feet in 1919. (AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, John Spink)
25. Flooded homes in Mableton, Ga., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
26. Volunteer Eryn Berry walks into a house to continue clean up efforts after flood waters from Sweetwater Creek receded, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)
27. A flood-ravaged room shows the high-water mark after a severe storm on Tuesday night caused flash flooding and damaged 16 homes near Savannah, Tenn., Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/The Jackson Sun, Devin Wagner)
28. Steve Logan removes items from his sister's home with the help of a neighbor, Becky Bentley in the Mulberry Creek subdivision September 22, 2009 in Austell, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
29. Grounds crew including Michael Watts, Jr., second from left, work at cleaning up mud and debris at the foot of the Ninja roller coaster, left by flood waters that inundated Six Flags over Georgia amusement park, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)
30. Anna Bryant stands outside of her Wheeler Avenue home in Chickamauga, Ga. on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 23, 2009. Georgia residents returning Wednesday to homes soaked by days of torrential rains were warned of a hidden danger _ disease-causing bacteria and jagged debris harbored by stagnant, murky water. (AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Angela Lewis)