CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A mother, father and child were killed when a tree fell on their car during heavy rain and flooding in Tennessee, an official said Wednesday.
The three were killed when saturated ground caused a large tree to fall in the Chattanooga suburb of East Ridge just after midnight, Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management spokesperson Amy Maxwell said by telephone.
The full extent of the damage isn’t yet known, Maxwell said. County officials will tour the damage in the East Ridge area on Wednesday morning, she said.
The flooding prompted rescues of people stuck in homes and swamped vehicles on Tuesday, and the region was bracing for more rainfall and flooding Wednesday. Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp declared a local state of emergency Tuesday night as first responders responded to flash flooding and urged people to exercise extreme caution.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of middle Tennessee through Wednesday night, warning of scattered flash flooding with tropical-like heavy rainfall and the possibility of training storms, especially over already saturated areas.
Chattanooga Fire crews rescued motorists trapped in vehicles and residents stuck in their homes, fire department officials said. Flooding closed parts of Interstate 24 in the area, but it reopened once floodwaters receded.
Swiftwater rescue teams rescued residents of three East Ridge homes trapped by rising floodwaters, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Austin Garrett said the flooding was more extensive than he had seen before, noting that it is usually concentrated in one area, The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
“This is extremely widespread. It made it difficult for us to even get here ourselves to try to help other people,” he said. “So no, I’ve never seen it to this extent, this widespread in so many areas and impacting travel the way it is.”