Cobb County, Georgia
Water Damage in Cobb County, GA: seven cities, one free call
Burst pipe, flooded basement, sewer backup or mold after a leak in Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw or anywhere else in Cobb County, Georgia? One free call connects you with an independent local restoration provider.
Free to call. No obligation to hire anyone.
- Free to call, no obligation to hire
- One number for all of Cobb County
- Burst pipes, flooded basements, sewage backups
- Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw and four more cities
Cities and services
Pick your city or the problem in front of you
Seven city pages carry each city’s own local detail, and four service pages each explain one kind of water problem. Or skip the reading, call, and describe what you are seeing to a local restoration provider.
Marietta
Sope and Nickajack creeks begin here, and the city runs its own water.
Smyrna
57 of 129 flood claims on record were outside the high-risk zone.
Kennesaw
The airport station read 7 F in December 2022; median home built 1998.
Acworth
The Lake City: about 6 percent of its area is water.
Powder Springs
The city requires a permit for any flood damage repair work.
Austell
Sweetwater Creek reached 30.82 feet in 2009 at a 10-foot flood stage.
Mableton
Incorporated in May 2023 and served by the county water and sewer system.
Emergency water removal
Getting standing water out and drying started, and whose pipe it is.
Flood damage restoration
Water that rose from outside: creeks, storm drains and runoff.
Sewage cleanup
Contaminated water, what gets thrown away and which sewer system is yours.
Mold remediation
The growth that follows water not dried within 24 to 48 hours.
How this service works
A free phone connection to independent local providers, and who does the work.
Local conditions
Cobb County water damage by the numbers
Four figures from public sources on how water gets into homes here: creeks, cloudbursts, cold snaps and aging houses.
- More than 1,600 homesCobb County’s Stormwater Management Division says the September 2009 flood flooded more than 1,600 homes across the county. The U.S. Geological Survey dates the rain to September 16 to 22, 2009.
- 30.82 feetThe peak on the USGS gauge on Sweetwater Creek near Austell on September 22, 2009. The National Weather Service says that record was 20 feet above flood stage and nine feet above the previous record crest.
- 8 FThe low at the National Weather Service’s Atlanta climate site on December 24, 2022. Days later the county closed the Vinings Library and two senior centers because of burst pipes and water damage, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
- About 53 percentThe share of Cobb County’s roughly 319,000 housing units built between 1970 and 1999, in the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey estimates. The 1980s were the largest single decade of building.
How the call works
From water on the floor to a provider on the phone
- Tap to callThe call is free. It connects you with an independent local water damage restoration provider.
- Say what happened and whereGive the city or ZIP code, where the water is, where it came from if you know, and how long it has been there. Mention sewage or mold if you see either.
- Deal directly with the providerThe provider arranges any visit and gives the price. The contract, the work and the decision to go ahead are between you and that provider; Water Damage Cobb County does not do the work or set the price.
Right now
Water in the house: the first ten minutes and who to call
If water is spreading as you read this, the short list below comes first and the phone call second. Water Damage Cobb County is a referral service that connects callers with independent local water damage restoration providers; it is not a contractor and does none of the work itself. Most of the steps come from federal safety guidance, and the table under them shows which county office takes which call.
- Stay out of standing water anywhere the power may still be live.
- Switch off the main power only if you can reach the panel from a dry place. That is the CDC’s rule, even if it delays the cleanup. If you cannot, leave the panel alone and call an electrician.
- Stop the water at the fixture, or at the main shut-off valve. Consumer Reports says the main valve is usually at the water meter or where the main line enters the house.
- Move what you can carry to a dry room.
- Photograph the rooms and your belongings before anything is cleaned up or thrown out. The joint federal cleanup guide puts photos and a call to the insurance company ahead of cleanup.
- Keep children and pets away from flood water and sewage water, as the EPA advises.
Two things not to do
Do not run a household vacuum over standing water. And do not set up fans until you know the water is clean: that is the EPA’s instruction for any loss where sewage or other contamination is possible.
That is the short version. The page on emergency water removal in Cobb County has the longer one, including how to tell a county pipe from your own.
Who to call for what in Cobb County
| What is happening | Who takes the call | Where the number is |
|---|---|---|
| Sewer backing up in the home or the street, or a broken water line gushing or leaking severely, on the county system | Cobb County Water System emergency response and dispatch | The county’s contact page, linked below |
| Anything else for the county water system | Cobb County Water System customer service | The county’s contact page, linked below |
| Drainage or flooding outside the road right-of-way | Cobb County Stormwater Management | The county’s contact page, linked below |
| Drainage or flooding within the road right-of-way | Cobb DOT | The county’s contact page, linked below |
| Danger to life | 911 | Dial 911 |
| Something for the county that is not an emergency | Cobb County 911’s listed non-emergency line | The county’s 911 page, cobbcounty.gov/911 |
| Wet floors, walls, ceilings and belongings inside the building | A local restoration provider | The call button on this page |
The county system serves unincorporated Cobb plus Acworth, Kennesaw, Mableton and Powder Springs. Marietta, Smyrna and Austell are customers of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority in their own right, and their city pages cover them, so the name on your water bill settles which utility is yours. The dispatch, customer service, Stormwater Management and Cobb DOT numbers are all listed on the Cobb County Water System contact page, which was last checked on October 5, 2026. They are not reprinted here because agency numbers change, and the county page is the current record.
Once the water is stopped and everyone is safe, call and describe what you are seeing to a local restoration provider.
Local record
What water damage looks like across Cobb County
Cobb County drains two ways. Creeks in the south and east, such as Sope, Nickajack and Sweetwater, run to the Chattahoochee River, which forms the county’s southeastern border. North Cobb creeks, including Noonday, Butler, Proctor and Allatoona, run the other way, to Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River.
September 2009, the flood on record
The U.S. Geological Survey dates the rain behind the 2009 flood to September 16 to 22, with the most intense rain late in the evening of September 20. Cobb County’s Stormwater Management Division counts more than 1,600 homes flooded across the county. USGS put the odds of that flooding in parts of Cobb and Douglas counties at less than 1 in 500 in any given year, and its summary of the flood lists the gauge readings.
- Sweetwater Creek near Austell peaked at 30.82 feet on September 22, on a gauge with a 10-foot flood stage. The page on water damage restoration in Austell, GA goes through that record.
- Nickajack Creek near Mableton peaked at 19.85 feet on September 21. See water damage restoration in Mableton, GA.
- Noonday Creek, which begins near Kennesaw Mountain, peaked at 19.66 feet at Shallowford Road on September 21. See water damage restoration in Kennesaw, GA.
Flash floods and a hard freeze
It does not take a week of rain. The National Weather Service says storms that kept passing over the northern Atlanta metro area caused significant flash flooding overnight on September 7, 2021 and into the next morning. Radar estimated as much as 4 to 5 inches in an hour, and 24-hour totals of around 9 inches fell just east of Marietta.
Cold does the same job from the inside. On December 24, 2022 the low at the Weather Service’s Atlanta climate site was 8 F. On December 28 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Cobb County had closed the Vinings Library, the West Cobb Senior Center and the Freeman Poole Senior Center because of burst pipes and water damage, and that the county fire department was overrun with calls about burst pipes and flooding as frozen pipes thawed.
The houses behind the calls
The Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey estimates put Cobb County at about 319,000 housing units. About 53 percent were built between 1970 and 1999, and the 1980s were the largest single decade, with about 22 percent of the total. In 2026 that puts roughly half the county’s homes between 27 and 56 years old, an age at which original plumbing and the appliances connected to it are worth a look.
Creek water, storm water or a pipe that split overnight: call and talk it through with a local restoration provider.
By city
Find your city, or your corner of unincorporated Cobb
The same number is used across the county, but the creek, the utility and the permit office change with the address. Each city has its own page, and each of the lines below is true of that city and not of the next.
- Marietta. Sope Creek starts inside the city, west of Interstate 75, and Nickajack Creek begins here too. Marietta Water runs water distribution and sanitary sewer inside the city limits, so a Marietta mailing address can mean either of two utilities. See water damage restoration in Marietta, GA.
- Smyrna. FEMA’s flood insurance claims data held 129 claims from ZIP codes 30080 and 30082 when it was checked on October 5, 2026, and 57 of them were on properties rated outside the mapped high-risk zone. See water damage in Smyrna, GA.
- Kennesaw. The airport weather station just southeast of downtown read 7 F on December 24, 2022, and Census estimates give the city’s homes a median year built of 1998. See water damage restoration in Kennesaw, GA.
- Acworth. Often called the Lake City, it lies along Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona, and about 6 percent of its area is water. See water damage restoration in Acworth, GA.
- Powder Springs. The city says permits are required for any flood damage repair work on a home. Upstream on Sweetwater Creek, the gauge at Brownsville Road peaked at 31.40 feet in September 2009. See water damage restoration in Powder Springs, GA.
- Austell. The city runs its own water distribution system of about 3,300 customers and lists its own after-hours line for water and sewer. See water damage restoration in Austell, GA.
- Mableton. A city since May 11, 2023. Cobb County’s notice says the city began taking building and development permit applications on March 1, 2025, while water and sewer stay with the county system. See water damage restoration in Mableton, GA.
Outside the city limits: East Cobb, Vinings, Cumberland and west Cobb
A large part of the county lives in no city at all. East Cobb, with 164,055 residents in 2020, is unincorporated: residents typically have Marietta addresses, and the county provides water, sewer, police and fire. Vinings sits on the bank of the Chattahoochee River, and its ZIP code, 30339, carries the postal name Atlanta. Cumberland is an edge city in an unincorporated area, where a trail crosses Rottenwood Creek.
Fair Oaks, just outside the Smyrna and Marietta city limits, uses mailing addresses from both. In west Cobb, Lost Mountain stayed unincorporated after a May 2022 cityhood vote failed, and Mars Hill residents have Acworth, Marietta or Powder Springs addresses. For homes outside a city, the Cobb County Water System is the county’s utility, and building permits are handled by the Development and Inspections division of Cobb County Community Development, whose office is in Marietta. Its address and number are on the county’s Community Development page at cobbcounty.gov/community-development.
Not sure which city or utility your address falls under? Call anyway and give the ZIP code.
Services
What a call can connect you with, and how restoration works
Four service pages sit behind this one. Each covers a different kind of water problem, and each turns on a different fact.
- Emergency water removal in Cobb County. Getting standing water out and drying started. The deciding fact is the category of water: clean water from a supply line is handled differently from water that carries contamination.
- Flood damage restoration in Cobb County. Water that rose from outside, from creeks, storm drains and runoff. Flooding of that kind is generally a separate flood policy and not the homeowners policy.
- Sewage cleanup in Cobb County. Contaminated water and what has to be thrown away. On the county system, a backup in the home or the street goes to the Water System’s dispatch line first.
- Mold remediation in Cobb County. The growth that follows water that was not dried in time. The EPA says wet areas and items need drying within 24 to 48 hours to prevent it.
From first look to repairs
Independent restoration providers generally work in the same order. The inspection uses moisture meters and infrared (thermal) imaging to find water that cannot be seen. Standing water is extracted, and materials that cannot be dried are removed. Drying follows, with air movers pushing air across wet surfaces and dehumidifiers pulling the moisture out of the room, while readings of air temperature, humidity and material moisture are taken to track progress. Cleaning comes next, and repairs last.
The trade sorts water into three categories. Category 1 is clean water from a sanitary source, such as a broken supply line. Category 2, or gray water, carries significant contamination, such as washing machine discharge. Category 3 is grossly contaminated, and general summaries put sewage and rising water from rivers or streams there. A category is not fixed: clean water can deteriorate to Category 2 or 3 with time, temperature and the growth of microbes.
On timing, one published figure is worth knowing, and it is not a promise from this site or any provider. FEMA says a wet area usually takes two to three days to dry completely and that rebuilding should wait until then.
Two words get mixed up. Mitigation is the insurance word for the reasonable steps an owner takes after a loss to stop further damage. Restoration is the wider job, from the first inspection through to the repairs.
Call, say what kind of water it is and how long it has been there, and ask the provider what happens first.
Cost and insurance
What decides the cost, and which policy pays
Water Damage Cobb County sets no prices. Only a provider who has seen the damage can price the job, and the research for this site found no published price list for water damage work that is specific to Cobb County. What moves a quote is fairly consistent.
- Area. How many rooms and how many square feet got wet.
- Category of water. Clean, gray or contaminated.
- Time. How long the water sat before drying began.
- What has to come out. Carpet, drywall, insulation, cabinets.
- Rebuilding. Whether repairs follow the drying.
- Access. A finished basement or a crawl space is slower to work in than an open room.
Pipe water and flood water are two different claims
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners describes the plumbing loss a homeowners policy pays for as a discharge that is both sudden and accidental. It adds that policies often cover a frozen pipe that bursts, provided the owner took reasonable steps to keep the pipes from freezing. A leak that has gone on for months is a different matter: the Insurance Information Institute says a policy will not pay for damage due to lack of maintenance.
Water that rises from outside is another policy altogether. Cobb County tells residents that most homeowners policies do not cover flooding, that a flood policy typically has a 30-day waiting period, and that 40 percent of flood insurance claims filed through FEMA between 2015 and 2019 came from outside high-risk flood areas.
The county also takes part in FEMA’s Community Rating System. It gives its current classification as 7, which it says is worth a 15 percent discount on flood insurance premiums, and a class can change at any review. Cities are rated separately; Austell, for one, holds its own class. The flood damage restoration in Cobb County page has the fuller account of flood insurance. Whatever the cause, keep the photos taken before cleanup, an inventory of what was damaged and the receipts for what you spend.
For a price on your own damage, call and ask the provider you are connected with for a written scope and price.
Before you hire
How to check the provider you speak with
This site connects; it does not vouch. The providers are independent businesses, and checking a provider’s license and insurance is the homeowner’s job, as the footer of every page says. The about page explains how this free service works, and the contact page is there for questions about the site itself. Cobb County gives much the same advice for hiring flood protection help: verify that the professional holds the license, registration, bond and insurance that state and local laws require, ask for proof of insurance and references, get a complete written contract, and do not sign under pressure from a salesperson.
What Georgia licenses and what it does not
The Georgia Attorney General’s office says general contractors, electricians, plumbers, and heating and air conditioning contractors must be licensed through the Secretary of State’s office, while drywall contractors and repair handymen are not required to hold a state license. None of the Georgia sources reviewed for this site names a state license specific to water damage restoration or mold remediation companies. So the question to ask is which license covers the part of your job that needs one, such as plumbing, electrical work or a rebuild.
The Attorney General’s Consumer Ed site gives the route for checking a contractor: go to sos.ga.gov, choose Licensing, click Licensee Search, open the Building and Contractors tab and select Residential and General Contractors. The same office warns against any contractor who asks for full payment up front, takes only cash or refuses to give a written contract.
- Who carries the general liability insurance, and does the name on it match the business?
- Which license covers any plumbing, electrical or rebuilding work?
- Is the scope of work in writing, with a price?
- How will you measure that the structure is dry before anything is closed up?
Flood maps and alerts for Cobb County
To look up an address, the county’s flood map page sends residents to FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center and tells them to enter 13067C as the FEMA ID. The area covered by the 1 percent annual chance flood is the Special Flood Hazard Area, the high-risk zone.
For warnings, the county’s alert channels include CobbLine, a free subscription that sends alerts by email, the CobbGov app, Wireless Emergency Alerts and NOAA weather radio. Cobb also has more than 70 outdoor sirens, tested at noon on the first Wednesday of each month, and the county says they are not intended to be heard inside homes or buildings.
Where these facts come from
The figures on this page come mainly from the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Weather Service, Cobb County, the Census Bureau, FEMA, the EPA, the CDC, the Georgia Attorney General’s office and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. They were last checked on October 5, 2026. Agency contact details and insurance classes change, so confirm them with the agency before you rely on them.
Call to be connected with a local restoration provider, then check the license and insurance before anything is signed.
Questions
Cobb County water damage questions
Is Water Damage Cobb County a restoration company?
No. Water Damage Cobb County is a referral service, not a contractor. It does not extract water, dry, clean, repair or inspect anything, and it employs no crews. When you call the number on this site you are connected with an independent water damage restoration provider. Any visit, price, contract and payment is between you and that provider, and it is your job to check that the provider has the license and insurance the work requires.
What happens when I call, and does it cost anything?
The call is free and there is no obligation to hire anyone. You are connected with an independent local restoration provider. Say where you are in Cobb County, where the water is, where it came from if you know, and how long it has been there. The provider decides how to follow up and prices any work. This site does not quote, schedule or carry out the job.
Who do I call first when I find water damage in my Cobb County home?
If anyone is in danger, call 911. If a sewer is backing up or a water line is gushing on the county system, call the Cobb County Water System’s emergency response and dispatch line. For water from your own plumbing, close the fixture valve or the main shut-off first. Then contact your insurance company and photograph the damage before cleanup, which is the order the joint federal cleanup guide gives. For the wet floors, walls and belongings, the call button on this page connects you with a local restoration provider.
How do I report a water leak or a broken water line in Cobb County?
If you are on the Cobb County Water System, its emergency response and dispatch line is for a broken water line that is gushing or leaking severely, or for a sewer backup. Other matters go to customer service. Both numbers are on the Water System’s contact page, linked in the who-to-call section above. Marietta, Smyrna and Austell are separate customers of the regional water authority, so check the name on your water bill first. The county says a leak after the meter is the property owner’s responsibility.
Who handles a sewer backup in Cobb County: the county or the homeowner?
Start with the utility. For a sewer backup inside a home or in the street, the Cobb County Water System’s instruction is to call its emergency response and dispatch line, which is listed on its contact page. The county pages read for this site do not say in words who owns the pipe between the house and the main, so ask the Water System. The cleanup indoors is a separate job, covered on the sewage cleanup in Cobb County page.
What should I do while I wait for help to arrive?
Keep out of standing water wherever the power may still be live, and keep children and pets away from flood water and sewage water. Move what you can carry to a dry room and photograph the rest where it sits. Hold off on fans until you know the water is clean, which is the EPA’s instruction where contamination is possible. The emergency water removal in Cobb County page has the longer list.
How fast does mold start after a leak or a flood?
Quickly. The Georgia Department of Public Health says molds can grow within 24 to 48 hours on a wet surface or material that is not dried or discarded, and the EPA gives the same window for drying water-damaged areas and items to prevent mold. The joint federal cleanup guide says a flooded home that was not dried in that time should be assumed to have mold growth. More is on the mold remediation in Cobb County page.
How long does it take to dry a house after water damage?
It depends on how much got wet and with what. One published figure gives a sense of scale: FEMA says a wet area usually takes two to three days to dry completely. It is not a promise from this site or from a provider. Ask the provider how dryness will be measured before repairs begin.
What decides the cost of water damage restoration?
Six things move a quote: the area that got wet, the category of water, how long it sat, what has to be removed, whether rebuilding follows, and how easy the space is to reach. Water Damage Cobb County sets no prices, and only a provider who has seen the damage can price it.
Does homeowners insurance cover water damage, and what about flooding from outside?
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners describes the plumbing loss a homeowners policy pays for as a discharge that is sudden and accidental. Flooding from outside is different: Cobb County says most homeowners policies do not cover it, and that a flood policy typically has a 30-day waiting period. Read your own policy, because the wording decides the claim. For an insurance dispute, Georgia’s Office of Commissioner of Insurance has a Consumer Services Division.
Does Cobb County get a discount on flood insurance?
Cobb County takes part in FEMA’s Community Rating System and gives its current classification as 7, which the county says is worth a 15 percent discount on flood insurance premiums. A class can change at any review, and cities are rated on their own: Austell, for example, holds a separate class. Whether a discount applies to your policy is a question for your insurance agent, and this site cannot promise one.
Where can I look up a Georgia contractor or plumber license?
The Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Ed site gives the route for contractors: go to sos.ga.gov, choose Licensing, click Licensee Search, open the Building and Contractors tab and select Residential and General Contractors. The Attorney General’s office says general contractors, electricians, plumbers, and heating and air conditioning contractors must be licensed through the Secretary of State’s office, while drywall contractors and repair handymen need no state license. Checking is the homeowner’s job.
How do I find out whether my home is in a flood zone in Cobb County?
Cobb County’s flood map page directs residents to FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center and says to enter 13067C as the FEMA ID to find the county’s flood risk products. The Special Flood Hazard Area is the area covered by the 1 percent annual chance flood. Being outside it is not a clean bill of health: the county says 40 percent of FEMA flood claims from 2015 to 2019 came from outside high-risk areas.
Which parts of Cobb County does this service cover?
The same number is used for the whole county: Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs, Austell and Mableton, plus unincorporated areas such as East Cobb, Vinings, Cumberland, Fair Oaks, Lost Mountain and Mars Hill. Each of the seven cities has its own page with its own local detail. Whether a provider can take a job at your address is settled on the call.
Can I get help at night or on a weekend?
Water damage does not keep office hours, so the question is a fair one. Some participating providers offer 24/7 or same-day emergency service, but that depends on provider participation, location, technician availability and demand, and it is not guaranteed. This site makes no promise about when anyone can arrive. If there is danger to life, call 911, and for a severely leaking water line or a sewer backup on the county system, call the Water System’s dispatch line.
Mitigation, restoration, repair: which one do I ask for?
You do not have to pick the right word. Mitigation is the insurance term for the reasonable steps taken after a loss to stop further damage. Restoration is the wider job, from the first inspection through to the finished repairs, and repair is the rebuilding at the end of it. On the call, describe what happened and what is wet, and ask the provider which parts of the job they take on.
Water where it should not be in Cobb County?
One free call, no forms to fill in. You are connected with an independent local restoration provider, and whether you hire them is your decision.