Somebody asked: has the Suwannee River crested after Hurricane Helene? Yes, upstream from the Alapaha River (Nobles Ferry Gauge) and downstream from the Santa Fe River (Rock Bluff Gauge). In between (Nobles Ferry to Branford Gauge) it’s still rising, although nowhere near Action Stage.

Flooding: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers 2024-10-01 Not flooding: Suwannee, Ichetucknee, New, Santa Fe Rivers

The Santa Fe and New Rivers were mostly unaffected by the storm.

The Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers are or were all in flood upstream, rapidly heading downstream.

So if you must go boating, the Santa Fe River or the Middle Suwannee River are your best bets. But if you can, stay off the roads and let emergency vehicles, road crews, and utilities work.

Details below, taken from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service. NOAA is the first option in River water levels in the Suwannee River Basin 2024-08-07.

Legend, NOAA River Gauges 2024-10-01

The most extreme Suwannee River water level rise was into Major Flood during the storm, at the Above Gopher River Confluence Gauge, which got both rainfall and storm surge.

Suwannee River above Gopher River Confluence 2024-10-01

There was risk of flooding way up the Suwannee River past Branford, but that has receded now.

Streams and Flooding, NOAA 2024-10-01

The purple-colored rivers and streams on the NOAA map are high, matching the stretches with gauges with high or rising water levels.

The Little River has peaked, but is still in Minor Flood near Adel and on GA 122 near Hahira (Folsom Bridge), now dropping fast.

Little River @ GA 122 (Folsom Bridge west of Hahira) 2024-10-01

The Withlacoochee River is in Action Stage or flood everywhere down to Pinetta, and will get pretty high soon at Madison Blue Spring and Lee.

Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road above Valdosta 2024-10-01

The Alapaha River already peaked at Irwinville, just peaked in Minor Flood at Alapaha, and is expected to reach Major Flood at Statenville by Sunday.

Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road above Valdosta 2024-10-01

The Alapaha River at Alapaha (US 82, Sheboggy Boat Ramp) has peaked in Minor Flood just below Major Flood.

Alapaha River at Statenville (GA 94, Statenville Boat Ramp) 2024-10-01

Upstream it already peaked at Irwinville on Sunday, also in Minor Flood, now down to Action Stage.

Downstream at Statenville (GA 94), the Alapaha River is rising, still below Action Stage, but expected to reach Major Flood by Sunday.

Alapaha River at Statenville (GA 94, Statenville Boat Ramp) 2024-10-01

The Ichetucknee River below Ichetucknee Springs State Park @ US 27 is holding just below Action Stage.

Ichetucknee River @ US 27 2024-10-01

The Santa Fe River was mostly unaffected, except at TREPO (Action Stage) and Worthington Springs, also still rising.

Santa Fe River at TREPO 2024-10-01

The Santa Fe River at Three Rivers Estates is in Action Stage and predicted to keep rising for a week. The Santa Fe River at Worthington Springs is rising, almost into Action Stage. The other Santa Fe River gauges were mostly unaffected by the storm.

Santa Fe Lake at Earleton is in Minor Flood since the storm on Thursday. Alligator Creek near Starke, Lake Sampson, and the New River near Lake Butler are all going down, and were never in Action Stage during the storm.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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