Flash flooding and torrential rain has cost at least three lives in Tennessee on Wednesday and caused havoc on the roads around Chattanooga, as the county mayor declared a state of emergency.
A tree uprooted from saturated ground and fell on a family in their car early on Wednesday morning, in East Ridge, on the outskirts of Chattanooga, killing a child and two adults, according to authorities in the area.
Almost seven inches of rain was dumped on the Hamilton county area on Tuesday night, closing an interstate highway and prompting the county mayor, Weston Wamp, to announce a state of emergency that remained in effect on Wednesday morning.
A man was also missing after emergency officials saw him being swept away by floodwaters in the Chattanooga area on Tuesday night but were unable to reach him despite searching for him with a rescue boat.
Chattanooga’s mayor, Tim Kelly, said on morning TV in Tennessee that “we have got more rain coming” and warned the public not to drive into floodwaters.
People became stranded in their cars and homes overnight after the flash flooding hit.
Fire department responders rescued several people from vehicles that were in danger of being swept away as floodwaters swamped roads.
“Firefighters spent hours checking sunken cars for any trapped people. This was a large coordinated response effort by city, county and state agencies as flash flooding caused dangerous situations in Chattanooga,” the fire department said and NBC reported.
Sheriffs deputies rescued some residents trapped in their homes in the East Ridge area as the waters rose, helping people into inflatable rescue boats.
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