‘I can’t fathom it’: Neighbor remembers former deputy killed in Georgia flooding

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A former Cobb County sheriff’s deputy was killed after being swept away by floodwaters near Old CCC Camp Road in Murray County, south of McCaysville, where flooding also occurred.The Murray County coroner identified her as Julie Barrs.Barrs’ neighbor, Dottie Billingsley, said Barrs tried to drive through rushing water late Wednesday.“Julie was screaming, ‘Help me, please help me,’ and the stream was so, I mean it was like Niagara Falls,” Billingsley said.Billingsley said another neighbor tried to grab a rope while Barrs clung to her seat belt. She said the bridge over the water was locked, so Barrs had to drive through the stream.Billingsley said she saw Barrs’ car there Thursday morning.“There was a tree laying across the hood up against the windshield and a lot of debris all around,” Billingsley said.Billingsley told Atlanta News First that Barrs’ body was found 2 1/2 miles downstream.“I can’t fathom it, it’s very very hard,” she said.A former coll