VIDEOS: Chattanooga received historic rainfall on Aug. 12, prompting flash flooding, road closures and water rescues. The National Weather Service recorded 6.42 inches of rain across the area, making it the second-wettest single day in the cityโs recorded history, which dates back to 1879.
A social media post from the Chattanooga Fire Department showed cars wading through the deluge on Aug. 12, with floodwaters so deep that some vehicles were nearly submerged, only their roofs visible above the brown, murky water. According to Rae Anne Bradley, regional communications officer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, widespread flooding shut down Interstate 24 between I-75 and U.S. 27 in Hamilton County until about 11:20 p.m. ET.
Hamilton County officials confirm three deaths following severe Chattanooga flooding
The Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management confirmed three fatalities following the severe flooding that struck Chattanooga and surrounding areas Aug 12. During the early morning hours, saturated ground from the storms caused a large tree to fall on a car in the 1100 block of South Moore Road in East Ridge, killing two adults and a child.
According to a social media post from the fire department, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp planned to meet with emergency officials and East Ridge first responders on Aug. 13 to assess the damage from the flash flooding and to “discuss next steps heading into a rainy Wednesday forecast.” In Chattanooga, search efforts are ongoing for a man who disappeared after attempting to walk through floodwaters on East Brainerd Road during the night hours on Aug. 12.
Hamilton County declares state of emergency after historic flooding
On Aug. 12, Wamp declared “a Local State of Emergency as first responders across Hamilton County respond to flash flooding.” “We have been in communication with both TEMA and the Governorโs Office and will continue to assess damage overnight and into the morning,” said Wamp. “We ask the public to please exercise extreme caution.”
Multiple roads were impassable on Aug. 12, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. A TDOT traffic camera captured video of an officer rescuing a woman from floodwaters on I-24, according to a social media post by News Channel 9 anchor Latricia Thomas. Chattanooga firefighters from the Swiftwater Rescue Team pulled six people from a van stranded at Davidson Road and Gunbarrel Road where rising water from an overflowing creek nearly swept the vehicle away, according to a social media post from the department. No injuries were reported.
Firefighters then spent hours checking submerged cars for anyone who might have been trapped, the department added. “I’ve seen flooding throughout my career all over the county,” Sheriff Austin Garrett said at the county’s emergency operations center, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
“It’s typically concentrated in one area. This is extremely widespread. It made it difficult for us to even get here ourselves to try to help other people.,” he added. “So no, I’ve never seen it to this extent, this widespread in so many areas and impacting travel the way it is.” Following the flooding, The American Red Cross of Tennessee opened the Brainerd Recreation Center for people being evacuated.
