Instead of jingle bells or the crackle of a warm fire, Monica Lee was abruptly awoken Christmas Eve morning by a blaring alarm system and rushing water.
The pipes in her southwest Atlanta apartment had burst during the weekend’s winter freeze.
“My entire apartment was raining,” Lee said, saying the deluge displaced her and her 6-year-old son.
Lee isn’t alone, and the prolonged arctic blast froze pipes throughout metro Atlanta, prompting viral videos of water pouring into Atlanta landmarks like Lenox Square Mall and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The freeze forced many families to leave their homes, restaurants to shut their doors, government buildings to close and MARTA to alter train service.
Subfreezing temperatures are mostly over, with 60-degree weather on tap for New Year’s weekend. But the Atlanta area is expected to continue battling the effects of burst pipes and water damage for weeks to come.
Gayle Schechter was visiting her family in Rochester, N.Y., but had to rush back to her Atlantic Station condo after her neighbors reported her building’s sprinkler system froze and burst. She now expects to spend weeks living out of an extended stay facility.
Credit: Gayle Schechter
Credit: Gayle Schechter
“They have to actually tear out the floor and tear out the drywall in all of the units in my hallways that were affected,” she said. “They told me it could be up to a month.”
The damage has been widespread. DeKalb County Watershed reported it was working to repair nine water main breaks by Tuesday afternoon. DeKalb was among at least four metro Atlanta counties to issue boil water advisories due to disrupted water systems.
DeKalb’s courthouse also suffered water damage and will be closed through Jan. 3, forcing operations to shift to video calls. The Vinings Library Branch in Cobb County and several Fulton County libraries, senior centers, art centers and other offices were closed Tuesday due to damage from frozen water pipes.
On Tuesday, Clayton County closed its juvenile justice centers due to pipe issues. The county, along with a few cities like Forest Park, handed out water bottles to residents due to the breakdown of local water systems.
Temperatures dipped into the single digits on Christmas Eve, the coldest weather metro Atlanta has seen in nearly a decade. As a result, the city of Atlanta and both Clayton and DeKalb counties extended warming center operations through Wednesday morning.
Police across metro Atlanta have asked residents not to call 911 with water related issues after systems were overwhelmed. Instead, soggy residents have flooded local plumbers with calls amid the chaos.
George Allen, the owner of GA H20 Plumbing Pros in Marietta, said he’s received more than 170 calls since Saturday about pipe issues, leading him to get about five hours of sleep since then.
“We knew it was coming,” he said. “But I didn’t have a clue it was going to be this bad.”
Allen said he’s had to pause all other maintenance calls — leaving those with clogged toilets and broken sinks out of luck until frozen pipes are fixed. He estimated that it will take roughly a month for metro Atlanta’s pipe issues to be alleviated.
“One day of cold weather, you never have any (frozen pipes) down here,” he said. “But once you get more than one day, that’s it.”
Multiple iconic Atlanta restaurants also suffered damage and could have their doors shuttered for weeks. The Varsity in Midtown closed Monday due to water damage and “will reopen as soon as the issue is repaired,” according to a spokesperson.
Diners at Steak Market in Midtown got an unexpected dousing Friday evening when a pipe burst during dinner service, the restaurant’s director of marketing, Krista Alford, said. She said the restaurant will be closed until Jan. 20, meaning the high-end restaurant had to cancel its New Year’s Eve reservations and events.
“We’ll just get past this and be stronger because of it,” Alford said.
Marietta Diner, a well-known eatery that prides itself on always being open, posted on Facebook that it “never closes,” even when water poured into the restaurant on Dec. 24.
Several apartment complexes and houses across metro Atlanta weren’t spared. A spokesperson said three of Georgia State’s housing facilities suffered burst pipes. Fewer than 5% of units were affected, and the university is working on relocating and assisting those students.
Lee, the southwest Atlanta resident displaced from her apartment, said her water damage ordeal affects nearly every aspect of her life.
She’s an interior designer who works out of her apartment at Park at the Marketplace Apartments, and her laptop and printer were damaged by water. Since her family all lives in Texas, she and her son are living at the home of a friend’s mother while trying to figure out what comes next with her insurance company and apartment manager, who still expects to collect rent Jan. 1.
“I’m just very, very overwhelmed,” she said. “As a single mother with no help... I’m just losing my mind.”
A representative for LiveBH, the apartment complex’s management company, said 26 units were affected by water damage and two residents were displaced.
“Our maintenance team has been working non-stop since Saturday, December 24 to address residents’ issues and work with contractors,” the statement said. “We are taking every action to remedy the situation quickly as our residents’ comfort is very important to us.”
Warming Centers
Atlanta:
Grant Park Recreation Center, 537 Park Avenue SE (Women and children only)
Old Adamsville Recreation Center, 3404 Delmar Lane NW
Central Park, 400 Merritts Avenue NE
Clayton County:
Sequoyah Middle School, 95 Valley Hill Road, Riverdale
DeKalb County:
Exchange Park Recreation Center, 2771 Columbia Drive, Decatur
Mason Mill Recreation Center, 1340 McConnell Drive, Decatur
Tobie Grant Recreation Center, 593 Parkdale Drive, Scottdale
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