Macon County prepares for Flint River flooding

The Macon County Commission has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of possible flooding of the Flint River.

The state of emergency and other preparations, such as filling up 500 sandbags, were made Saturday as waters continued to rise, said James Conner, director of the Macon County Emergency Management Agency.

Among those at risk is a mobile home park in Oglethorpe, Conner said. In addition, officials want to prevent water from coming in to downtown Montezuma, he said.

The Flint River in Montezuma hit flood stage, which is 20 feet, Saturday morning and continued to rise through the afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A flood warning issued for Dooly, Macon and Sumter counties states the river will continue rising to near 26.6 feet by Monday morning then will begin falling. At 28 feet, moderate flooding begins, according to the warning.

To contact writer Jennifer Burk, call 744-4345 or find her on Twitter@jennburk.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Macon County prepares for Flint River flooding ."