Floods Leave McCaysville Businesses Facing Costly Recovery

Floodwaters swept through downtown businesses in the twin towns on the Georgia-Tennessee border, damaging buildings and destroying inventory. Owners are now weighing whether they can reopen after the river spilled over its banks and water entered shops through structural cracks.

Edward Vest said his family-owned IGA Hometown Foods in McCaysville had about $600,000 to $700,000 in inventory. The store has been part of his family’s life for nearly 25 years; Vest said he is uncertain what comes next. The downtown damage also includes shattered storefront windows and a Masonic Lodge left almost unrecognizable.

Toccoa River Outfitters owner Benjamin Bruce said previous floods had not reached anything like this level. His store depends on customers shopping in person, but the storefront is no longer usable and its contents were lost.

Other owners are also confronting the scale of the losses. Hugh Rogers, who has operated McCaysville Drug and Gun for 30 years, said the latest flood was worse than two earlier floods this year. Diana Leal lost her uninsured coffee shop, which operated inside her mother’s Mexican restaurant. Mayor Terry Arp estimated that losses to buildings and property in one part of downtown totaled $10 million to $15 million.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued an emergency declaration. Town leaders are working with state emergency officials to document losses and seek federal assistance. Arp said they hope the area will receive a federal disaster declaration; no decision or timeline for one was given.