JOHNS CREEK, GA – September 08, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Top South Decks & Porches has issued guidance on stormwater planning for deck and patio construction following the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s August 6 update to its 2026 Atlantic hurricane season outlook. The Johns Creek contractor said the update’s preparedness message for inland communities applies directly to outdoor construction across the northern Georgia Piedmont.
NOAA’s revised outlook calls for seven to 13 named storms, two to six hurricanes and up to two major hurricanes, and raised the probability of a below-normal season from 55 percent to 75 percent. The agency attributed the revision to El Niño conditions that emerged in the equatorial Pacific in June and have strengthened since. Two named storms, Arthur and Bertha, had formed as of the update, with no hurricanes recorded.
The agency urged both coastal and inland communities to prepare as the season approaches its historical peak in September. National Weather Service Director Ken Graham noted that inland rainfall is a major cause of damage from tropical storms and hurricanes, as Tropical Storm Arthur demonstrated when it brought record rainfall to portions of Louisiana in June.
A below-normal basin-wide forecast lowers the expected seasonal total rather than the exposure of any individual property. For inland areas well removed from storm surge and tidal flooding, tropical systems arrive as rainfall. That rainfall interacts with residential grading and drainage in ways that outdoor construction either accounts for at the design stage or does not.
Northern Georgia has already seen an unusually wide swing in ground moisture during 2026. National Weather Service drought information statements for north and central Georgia recorded severe drought expanding across the region in January and drought persisting through February. Weeks of sustained rainfall through the spring reversed much of that, with improvement most pronounced across north Georgia. By late July, the United States Drought Monitor again showed active drought across roughly a fifth of the state, with a further 60 percent classified as abnormally dry.
“A property does not experience an average season, it experiences whatever actually lands on it,” said Federico De Aramburu, Owner of Top South Decks & Porches. “We have had a dry winter, a very wet spring and a dry stretch again this summer, all inside one year. The design has to work across the whole range.”
Water management beneath a deck differs from what happens on its surface. Runoff from the deck and water passing through board gaps collects on the ground below. Where grading directs that flow toward the structure rather than away from it, the soil surrounding footings remains wet for extended periods after a storm passes.
Soils of the Cecil series, the most extensive series mapped across the southeastern Piedmont, are described by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service as very deep and well drained, with medium surface runoff and moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity. The series occurs on slopes ranging from zero to 25 percent. On sloped residential lots, the practical planning question is therefore the path runoff takes across the property rather than whether the ground is capable of absorbing water.
Foundation approach follows from those site conditions. Top South Decks & Porches builds on helical piers and on traditional concrete footings, with the selection guided by soil, slope and the size and loading of the structure. The company said footing selection alone does not resolve a drainage problem when surrounding grade continues to direct water toward the structure.
Patio surfaces respond differently again. Water reaching a paver surface drains through the joints into the aggregate base below, and that system performs according to how quickly the base and subgrade accept water relative to the rate a storm delivers it. When the subgrade is already saturated from earlier rainfall, that capacity falls and water moves across the surface instead.
Poured concrete and stamped concrete shed water across the surface rather than through it, which shifts the planning emphasis onto slope and onto where the discharge is directed. Natural stone and flagstone surfaces introduce further variation through joint width and the way individual units are set.
Covered structures intercept rainfall before it reaches the surface below and concentrate it into a roof drainage path. That concentrated discharge then has to be routed clear of footings, adjacent hardscape and any lawn area below. Top South Decks & Porches models those flow paths during its 3D design stage, before construction begins and while layout changes remain inexpensive.
“Water shows up on a property the same way every year, and the design either has somewhere for it to go or it does not,” De Aramburu said. “The time to work that out is while the plan is still on a screen.”
Top South Decks & Porches is a family-owned deck, porch and outdoor living contractor founded in 2016 and based in Johns Creek, Georgia. The company works in composite, PVC and pressure-treated materials, and handles projects from design and permitting through construction and final inspection using in-house crews.
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For more information about Top South D&P, contact the company here:
Top South D&P
manuela pelaez
+16786583384
mpelae11@gmail.com
6470 East Johns Crossing, Suite 160, Johns Creek, GA 30097, United States
