Residents Prepare for Worst as Waters Rise in Southeast : Disaster: Riverfront homeowners in parts of Georgia, Alabama and Florida flee to higher ground. Flooding has already claimed 24 lives.

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — For the riverside residents of this small town, the worst of the disaster was still 40 miles upstream and four days away. But it was not too early to flee.

“I am trying to get my parents out of here because there is going to be water to the rooftop of this house,” Ellen Sellers, 33, said Saturday from the back porch of her childhood home in Flint River Heights. The Flint River, where she had fished and water-skied as a girl, was three feet from her parents’ door and rising by the minute.

“They don’t believe it,” said Sellers of her parents. “They have lived here for 25 years and they think everyone is panicking. But I feel certain they are going to lose their house.”

Houses, and lives, have been lost every day for almost a week now in what is being called the worst flooding to hit Georgia--and parts of Alabama and north Florida--this century. At least 24 people are dead and five are missing after heavy rain from a stalled tropical storm pushed dozens of usually tranquil rivers and creeks to rage far from their banks.

In Albany, Ga., National Guard troops and hundreds of volunteers continued piling sandbags around the civic center in hopes of holding back the Flint, expected to crest late Saturday at 45 feet, 25 feet above flood stage. More than a quarter of the town’s 20,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes. At least 5,000 people are being housed in shelters set up in schools and churches.

Nearby, a portion of the earthen dam at 8,500-acre Lake Blackshear gave way Saturday morning, but a state official said there was no immediate danger.

Just south of the Alabama line in the Florida Panhandle, Caryville, a town of 600 residents, was all but washed away by the flood. From the air, only rooftops could be seen poking through the waters of the Choctawhatchee River. As had happened in Albany, Ga., earlier in the week, several coffins in a cemetery popped out of the soaked ground, and police detained several people as they tried to break through barricades and secure their relatives’ remains.

More than 3,200 people have been moved from their homes in the Florida Panhandle.

In Macon, Ga., the Ocmulgee River has crested, but approximately 150,000 residents were left a messy cleanup job and no drinking water for at least a week. The river swamped the water treatment plant Tuesday.

Although Interstate 75, sections of which had been closed for three days, was reopened early Saturday near Macon, traffic was still snarled throughout much of southwest Georgia. Some of the problems stemmed from the crush of residents rushing to prepare for high water, others by those who just wanted to look at the damage.

In Albany, one man was arrested for obstructing police. “If you gawk or balk, we’re going to arrest you and jail you,” said Assistant Police Chief Bob Boren.

Even boat traffic was causing problems. Police in Bainbridge urged people to stay off the Flint after homeowners reported that the wakes from motorboats were breaking windows in partially submerged houses.

“We’ve had floods in the past, but this is unreal,” said Sellers, who left her three children with friends in Dothan, Ala., before returning to Bainbridge to help her parents evacuate.

Predictions were that at least three-quarters of this picturesque rural community of 12,000 would be inundated by Wednesday as the Flint rises to 20 feet above flood stage. An overnight curfew is to go into effect tonight. Electricity and gas were cut off to some areas.

Throughout the day Saturday, pickups, rental trucks and even peanut wagons pulled by tractors ferried furniture, appliances and other belongings from homes by the river to higher ground. The Amoco Oil Co. opened a warehouse near town for residents to use as a storage space.

Gary Brown, 35, safety director for Flint River Mills Inc., one of the largest grain elevators in the Southeast, said tons of animal feed and equipment had been moved to other facilities. “We’re completely evacuated,” he said.

Nearby, in the Dixie Dandy Food Store, three-quarters of a mile from the swirling brown waters of the Flint, store owner Walter Goodman and his family were hurrying to clear the shelves even while making occasional sales.

“I had planned a two-day flood sale to reduce the inventory,” Goodman said. “But we don’t have time for that now.” He expected six feet of water in the store by Wednesday.

Insurance agents reported a run on flood insurance this week. David Porter of the Independent Life Insurance Co. said he sold several policies. He was in the shrinking back lawn of a friend’s house Saturday, driving golf balls into the Flint as it rushed southward with shattered trees, plastic debris, even children’s swing sets, all suspended in the muddy water.

“There’s a five-day waiting period,” Porter said. “So those who bought from us on Thursday have to hope and pray this doesn’t affect their homes before Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.”

Even though the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto were long gone, heavy thunderstorms formed over Alabama and Georgia early Saturday, adding to the rain that has pelted the region and occasionally casting an ominous gloom to the anxious preparations.

Although a spirit of helpfulness was evident--volunteers from as far away as Florida showed up to help move people from their homes--trucks were scarce and not everyone who needed assistance got it right away.

Pamela Cooper, a 25-year-old mother of three, sat forlornly in her riverfront house in Bainbridge, watching her neighbors flee. “I’m going to have to stay here. I don’t have no choice,” she said.

Stanley reported from Bainbridge, Ga., and Clary from Miami.