Kelly Bomar Mayor of Ringgold

09/04/2026

📋Informational update addressing downtown stormwater issues. For decades, properties with lower back-door entry points have faced flooding risks, and it remains one of our top priorities following the recent heavy rainfall. While past city investments significantly improved stormwater capacity, recent events showed that drainage interconnection from outside systems is a major factor in overloading our downtown system.

We aren't standing still while waiting for long-term fixes. Over the last month, we’ve taken steps that are more immediate and multi-level:

➡ Cleaned and repaired key infrastructure, including numerous interconnecting stormwater elements that feed into the downtown system.

➡ Engaged state legislators and GDOT leadership to address overflow from state-maintained systems and pursue emergency state funding.

➡ Approved $30,000 last night (9/3) for targeted engineering studies of key stormwater assets and surrounding city drainage.

➡ Repositioned DDA facade grant funds to help impacted business owners purchase physical flood barriers and prevention tools.

➡ Coordinated basin repairs with GDOT & CSX on multiple catch basins while adding new city-installed basin capacity in at least one area.

➡ Initiated a broader infrastructure plan to bolster overall downtown system capacity using various funding sources.

➡ Provided affected business owners with a financial loss funding opportunity through Small Business Administration (EIDL- Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Declaration).

We are not to the finish line by any means, but we are pushing every lever available to get this right.



**graphic is AI generated just for visual folks like me**

09/04/2026

Congrats to RPD!

09/03/2026

Georgia Municipal Association and UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government always have top notch training. This Mayors Academy was no exception. The networking, practical problem solving, and leadership training was invaluable to me and as always I feel fortunate beyond measure to have been able to attend.

More than 50 mayors from across Georgia gathered at the University of Georgia Aug. 28-30 for the 2026 Mayor’s Leadership Academy. Through three days of collaboration, education and networking, mayors explored the many dimensions of city leadership while building connections and sharing strategies ...

08/27/2026

08/25/2026

Official Statement from the Office of the Mayor

For Immediate Release: August 25, 2026

Today, our hearts are heavy in Ringgold as we join the world in mourning the loss of a true American icon, global treasure, and beloved music legend Dolly Parton.

While the world knew her for her extraordinary voice, timeless songwriting, boundless generosity, and joyful spirit, Ringgold will always hold a deeply personal piece of her story. On May 30, 1966, a young Dolly Parton walked into Ringgold First Baptist Church alongside the love of her life, Carl Dean, to say, "I do." They chose our small town because it offered them a quiet and sweet place to begin their journey together. Their marriage would go on to stand as a testament to devotion for nearly six decades.

Dolly’s connection to Ringgold remains a source of immense pride for our community. Every year, visitors travel to our city to see where that love story began, or to take a selfie with our Dolly mural. Her legacy inspired our town's annual "Dolly Day" festival and Dolly Dash, a celebration in which our neighbors come together in music and community spirit to honor the indelible mark she left on our home. Her grace, humility, and faith have always mirrored the very best of Ringgold.

Dolly Parton gave so much to the world, not only through her music, but also through her unwavering dedication to literacy, humanitarian work, and lifting others up. She taught us how to lead with a warm heart and leave the world better than we found it.

On behalf of the City Council and the residents of Ringgold, I offer our deepest condolences to the Parton and Dean families, her friends, and her millions of fans across the globe. Ringgold was honored to play a small role in her incredible life, and her memory will forever live in the heart of our town.

May she rest in peace.

08/21/2026

Thank you The Home Depot

‼️Downtown Ringgold Business Owners‼️

Home depot has just donated some supplies and equipment to help with cleanup from the flood. If you are a business owner that was affected by the storms last night, stop by Venue 7813 to pickup supplies.

08/21/2026

FYI

UPDATE: CHAPMAN RD IS OPEN

🚧ROAD CLOSURE🚧

Please avoid Chapman Rd between Canyon Trl and Hwy 41.

Ringgold Police Dept and City Works have shut down the road for flood damages, repair, and vehicle removal from the creek. The road will likely be closed most of the day.

Residents may access their homes from the north end of Chapman Rd.

08/21/2026

The data from last night’s storm explains why conditions escalated so rapidly across our system.

Radar Estimates (from News Channel 9 report): Storm cores dropped approximately 5.32 inches of rain in about 2 hours. That is a 500- to 1,000-year storm event possibly exceeding a 3.55 in/hr rate from 12:00am-1:00am especially.

Creek Impact: South Chickamauga Creek surged 8.49 feet in just 90 minutes (between midnight and 1:30 AM) according to NOAA. It's currently (as of 9:00am) 3 feet above normal.

Why the System Breached (I looked this info up online): When rainfall intensity exceeds 3 to 3.5 inches per hour, the ground hits total saturation. Soil infiltration effectively stops, converting nearly 100% of the rainfall into immediate surface runoff.

This creates a distinct lag effect. I observed that our stormwater systems held the initial volume through roughly 12:50 AM. However, as the massive surge of runoff from the upper watershed caught up, it completely overwhelmed capacity—leading to the system breaches reported in the downtown area starting around 1:05 AM.

08/21/2026

Final update (4:45 am): a brief narrative.

I was downtown around midnight monitoring the conditions. At approximately 12:20 a.m., I observed that the stormwater system downtown was handling the flow and staying within capacity as the heaviest rain began to ease, though water was over the road in several residential areas at that time.

By approximately 1:05 a.m., as upstream runoff continued to collect, reports indicated that the volume of water reached capacity in the detention areas, leading to overflow downstream that affected several downtown businesses. I also observed high water impacts in residential areas, including near Creekside Park.

Some of the significant damage occurred north on Hwy 41 near Rick Worley & Son and Greased Lightning, where fast-moving water displaced multiple dumpsters and damaged several vehicles.

We are continuing to monitor the situation as daylight comes.

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Update: flooding downtown in several businesses and greased Lightning area is severely flooded . (2:00)

Update: underpass is flooded (1:30am)

Update: so much water and things have backed up downtown. Things are flowing earlier but that much rain in such a short period of time has caused water to back up downtown. (1:15am)

12:20 am: Went downtown with Caleb Parker and our city manager Mark Vaughn - I believe all the drains were holding up for the most part. Some water across the road in other parts of town in residential areas. One spot of concern downtown. A lot of rain came down, so let's hope it holds up.

08/12/2026

🗳️ Qualification for city council special election was over at noon today. Caleb Parker was the sole qualifier for the unexpired term.