Family Killed When Tree Falls on Car in Flooding in East Tennessee

Heavy rain led to flooding around Chattanooga, Tennesse, where a family of three was killed when a tree fell on their car early Wednesday morning.

News reports indicated that saturated ground caused the large tree to fall in East Ridge, outside of Chattanooga. The mother, father and child died at the scene, the New York Times reported. Another body was found after a man ran past barricades, the Associated Press and Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

More than 60 vehicles were stuck on a flooded interstate highway, and first responders carried people on their backs to safer ground, the Hamilton County emergency management director said.

Hundreds of calls poured into the county’s 911 center, so many that people were placed on hold throughout the early morning hours.

More than six inches of rain was recorded Tuesday evening at the Chattanooga airport, the second-highest rainfall recorded in the area, the Chattanooga newspaper reported. More flooding was expected as the storm system dumped more rain on east Tennessee and northwest Georgia. Still, the mayor of East Ridge said the property damage and loss of life could have been worse, the AP noted.

Photo: Multiple vehicles were partly submerged by the floodwaters Tuesday and Wednesday. (WTVC via AP)