Record Chattanooga rainfall leaves 4 dead, prompts state of emergency

Four people were killed by a falling tree while water rescues were performed across the city Tuesday night.

Torrential rain slammed the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area Tuesday night, leading to water rescues, flooded roadways, and toppled trees. In East Ridge, a suburb just south of the city, a falling tree crushed a car after midnight, killing a man, woman and child, according to the Associated Press. Search efforts continued Wednesday for a man who went through flood waters on East Brainerd Road on foot last night and has not been seen since, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department.

Hamilton County’s mayor declared a local state of emergency after downpours shattered Chattanooga’s daily rainfall record.

"Officially at the airport, Chattanooga had 6.42 inches of rainfall yesterday, with most of that falling between noon and 8 p.m.," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said. "That was a record amount of rainfall for the date, easily breaking the old record of 1.93 inches of rainfall that fell on August 12, 2013."

An AccuWeather Ambient weather station in Rising Fawn, Georgia, south of Chattanooga, reported 8.39 inches of rain during the event. More storms to the west of the city Tuesday morning caused flood warnings between Tullahoma and South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Roads were also reported underwater near Lynchburg.

A flash flood watch is in effect for much of central and eastern Tennessee into early Wednesday night, as more showers and thunderstorms can occur today into tonight, and some of them can contain additional flooding downpours. 

More showers and thunderstorms are expected across the eastern part of the state through the weekend, Pydynowski says. Storm coverage will be more widespread Thursday, then become less active Friday and the weekend.

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