Buckhead restaurant recovering after rising floodwaters force it to close

A popular Indian restaurant and staple along Peachtree Road in Buckhead is cleaning up after floodwater rushed inside Thursday night.

Tabla's manager said water began rising around 9 p.m. after rain moved through the area. He said water flowed down the street and into the restaurant.

"It was a disaster last night. And as you can see, it is, it's already in a mess," manager Xavier Gomez said.

Gomez believes debris may have blocked a storm drain outside the restaurant, leaving nowhere for the water to go.

"This is unexpected. The weather department, whoever is cleaning the drains, has to look into this," Gomez said.

A neighbor who lives nearby said the drain has been a concern.

"The storm drain there is just never repaired. It's always below street level where cars have to stop and go around it," said Dan Mitchell.

A CBS News Atlanta crew saw first responders on the scene overnight and yellow tape lining at least one side of the road. It appeared other businesses in the area were also affected.

Crews from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management worked on drainage outside the restaurant on Friday morning.

CBS News Atlanta reached out to the City of Atlanta to ask what caused the flooding, if other businesses were impacted, and what will be done to prevent the flooding from occurring again. We also asked whether the city could be responsible for any damages if its infrastructure is found to be the cause.

For now, Gomez said the focus is on cleaning up and getting back to serving customers. The restaurant plans to begin with takeout service. There is no word yet on when full dine-in service will resume.