Waycross Journal-Herald

Nearly two inches of rain in less than two hours late Friday morning sent canals out of their banks and flooded streets.
According to data for Waycross from Accuweather, 1.8 inches of rain was recorded during a thunderstorm that began about 10:15 a.m. and subsided just before noon. Rain gauges at some homes in the area registered twice that much rain or more, their social media posts said.
A thunderstorm warning for Ware County and surrounding areas was issued just before 10 a.m. by the National Weather Service continuing until 11:45 a.m.
The rain from that storm led to a flash flood warning being issued at 11:58 a.m. to continue until 3 p.m. for the area when a flood advisory picked up until 4:30 p.m.
The community’s Juneteenth Festival scheduled to start at noon at Bailey Street Park was moved to C.C. McCray City Auditorium with a new start time about 4 p.m.
The result of the rapid rainfall wasn’t long-lasting, however, as the ponding on most city streets was gone by 1 p.m. and any overflowing canals began to return to their banks shortly after.
The forecast for the rest of Friday called for a 50 percent chance of additional thunderstorms through early evening that could bring another inch or so of rain.
Forecast for the weekend called for mostly cloudy skies with temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s, but only a 25 to 35 percent chance of a pop-up thundershower either day.
See a full report in Wednesday’s Waycross Journal Herald.

A severe thunderstorm rolled through Ware County Saturday afternoon caused power outages, flooded roadways, toppled trees, upended unsecured structures and damaged the framing of a building under construction, authorities said.
Read more: https://www.theblacksheartimes.com/article/11893,rain-winds-cause-damage-sat

A Waycross woman and Blackshear man have been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after they both reportedly had inappropriate contact earlier this year with a female under 12 years old, Ware County Sheriff Carl James said last week in a news release.
Arrested were Amy Michelle Crews, 45, of the 100 block of New Mexico Avenue, and Joe Christopher Heath, 42, of the 6500 block of Phillips Road.
Read more: https://www.theblacksheartimes.com/article/11895,two-charged-in-child-sex-exploitation

The Ware County Board of Education will meet for its regular meetings on Monday and Tuesday. The Work Session will be held on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. The regular business Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. The Board will conduct business as usual, as well as vote on the adoption of the Final Budget for FY27. Both meetings will be held at the Ware County Board of Education office, 1301 Bailey Street. Tuesday night’s Board Meeting will be live-streamed. To locate the Livestream link, visit www.ware.k12.ga.us, click Menu, and select Board of Education Meeting Livestreams. These meetings are open to the public. The meeting agenda is posted prior to the meeting, and the minutes are posted as well, on the system web page at www.ware.k12.ga.us under the District and e-Board links.

Ware County Schools