The water at Baker Street on Interstate 75/85 rose to window level in two minutes. By 5:32 p.m. on May 20, a white sedan sat submerged in the northbound lanes of the Downtown Connector, its driver on the roof surrounded by rushing water, while rush-hour traffic stacked up more than a mile behind her. Atlanta’s formal Flash Flood Warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) would not arrive for another 20 minutes. The highway was already gone.
Radar estimated up to three inches of rain in parts of downtown and Midtown in under two hours. But blame falls on more than raw rainfall totals. Weeks of dry weather had packed Atlanta’s storm-drain inlets along I-75/85 with leaves, litter, and compacted debris. When the storm hit with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches in 30 minutes, the inlets were already sealed, and water had nowhere to go except onto the highway lanes.
Two Minutes on the Baker Street Overpass
Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) cameras captured the sequence in real time. Northbound vehicles on I-75/85 approached standing water near the Baker Street overpass, some pushing through slowly, others stopping as the depth exceeded their clearance. By 5:32 p.m., one white sedan stalled completely. Its driver climbed out onto the roof.
State troopers closed the northbound lanes close to 5 p.m. and kept them shut until just before 6:30 p.m., blocking drivers for more than 90 minutes during the peak commute. The closure ran between the John Lewis Freedom Parkway exit and the Peachtree-Pine Street exit, with traffic backed up to the I-85 South Split. Areas near Freedom Parkway, Peachtree Street, and the Pine Street exits all reported standing water. Flooding also forced delays on MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) rail service near the Peachtree Center station.
The storm that produced all of this was highly localized. WSB meteorologist Christina Edwards said it sat nearly stationary over a roughly 2-mile by 4-mile area directly above the connector for about two hours, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Not a drop fell at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport or at Truist Park near the Perimeter. The flooding that paralyzed downtown was invisible to most of the city.
| Time (EDT) | Location | What Happened |
|---|---|---|
| 4:49 p.m. | West End Atlanta | Nearly stationary thunderstorm develops over west-central DeKalb, south-central Cobb, and south-central Fulton counties |
| 5:16 p.m. | Downtown and Midtown | Radar shows 1.5 inches across warned areas; flash flooding begins on surface streets |
| 5:32 p.m. | Baker Street, I-75/85 NB | GDOT cameras show cars trapped; driver climbs onto roof of submerged sedan |
| 5:52 p.m. | Atlanta, Midtown, Druid Hills | National Weather Service issues Flash Flood Warning for metro area |
| 6:10 p.m. | West Peachtree Street NE | Atlanta Fire Rescue arrives; four vehicles impacted, all occupants already out |
| 6:23 p.m. | Downtown grid | Primary storm pushes east; floodwaters begin receding as crews clear drains |
| 8:15 p.m. | Metro Atlanta | NWS officially cancels Flash Flood Warning for the metro area |
Why the Drains Gave Up
NWS meteorologist Sam Marlow identified the preceding drought as the compounding variable.
