Parts of Chattanooga buried under flood waters
WDEF caught up with David Richardson who was trying to push water from his flooded basement. He said he received an unusual wake up call thanks to Mother Nature.
"I woke up to the sounds of rushing water downstairs. I went downstairs to find that our refrigerator was floating sideways and the oven was turned over floating in the kitchen," Richardson said.
Richardson allowed WDEF into his home to see the damage. Hours after the rain tapered off, the sound of rushing water could be heard pouring into the back of the home from the back yard. Richardson said clean up is going to take a long time.
"It was pretty scary because once I got down the stairs I realized the water was waist deep. That was problematic because you can’t just push that much water out at that point,"Richardson said.
Less than mile from Richardson’s home, Edith Holloway was one of four people rescued by Chattanooga firefighters from two cars that were submerged under water. Both vehicles got stuck under a flooded viaduct on Main Street.
"By the time they came and got us out, the water was up to our waist, so the car is totaled," Holloway said.
Cars left parked at a nearby plant facility were buried under water. Teishea Newton jumped out of her car to check out the scene.
"I really couldn’t explain it. This is just a lot of water. This is like every bit of four or five feet high," she said.
WDEF was at the right place and at the right time to catch the fate of an oncoming fire truck. It was near the car dealerships on 26th street where heavy flooding shut down the street. A Chattanooga fire truck attempted to make a U-turn over a buried concrete median. Seconds after making the turn, the truck started smoking.
Fortunately, there were no reports of any flood related injuries.
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