BULLOCH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – The EMA and Bulloch County Public Works Department have begun repairing numerous roads and the aftermath of several dam failures. Some are still in the process of evacuating their homes due to flooding. One of those dam failures occurred at Akins Pond.
The situation at Akins Pond worsened on Wednesday when the pond’s dam gave way.
Today, Thursday, a new day has dawned, says the Akins family, and it is time to start the repair work.
“Yesterday, I got a call from someone who lives down the creek. He said I heard the dam might break. Is that going to happen? I said I don’t think so, and later that day it turned out I was very wrong,” said Jo Akins, owner of Akins Pond.
Yesterday afternoon, the Bulloch County EMA issued an alert for residents living near Akins Pond to evacuate. Jo and her husband, who own the property in Akins, were trapped in the house when the water washed over them.
“It just flooded and our backyard in particular was washed away. It’s no longer there, and down at the dam it broke too,” Akins said.
The property has been in the Akins family for generations. The Akins say they have never experienced water levels this high in the 30 years they have lived there. Fortunately, no water entered the house. However, there was extensive damage to the exterior.
“It washed away the stairs at the back of the house, but did not damage anything inside the house itself,” Akins explained.
Akins says the other broken dams pushed the strong flow of water into her pond.
“From what I understand, there are many other dams that have broken in the area, and some of them feed into this one. That’s what caused the big rush yesterday,” Akins said.
Since Thursday, the water level in Akins Pond has been dropping very quickly.
The family says they hope to begin repairs immediately, although they will take some time.
WTOC will keep you updated with updates on how Bulloch County continues to deal with the aftermath of this tropical storm.
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