Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

The ground in Tift County, which has become saturated from recent rainfall, is unable to absorb the 8-11 inches of precipitation dumped on the area Tuesday night.

This caused residents, like Allene Lee, a rude awaking in the morning, "When I got up this morning, I discovered all that water, down there. They had to come get me with a boat because it was coming up so high to the steps and the window sill and everything."

With the water level as deep as four feet, around some houses, a lot of residents were forced to leave their cars behind. Some of the fortunate people were able to enlist the help of friends to pull their cars to drier ground.

Most of the cars that were pulled to safety wouldn’t start, which is the case in most instances, when a car is fully submerged under water.

Businesses were also affected by the flood; the Ramada was forced to close for the night due to water damage.

Fortunately for them, the Days Inn, which is right next door handled the flood a little better, and are honoring the Ramada’s reservations.

An official for the Tifton Ramada said they are working hard to clean up the rooms and are hoping to have the second floor rooms available Thursday.

As of 10 p.m. Wednesday evening the Georgia Department of Transportation says U.S. 82/S.R. 520 has reopened in Tift and Berrien counties to all traffic.