Storm over East Brainerd at 6:50 p.m.
photo by Carolyn Davidson
A tornado touched down near the Chickamauga Dam around 7 p.m. Tuesday, damaging several homes in the Lakeshore area as well as a nearby apartment complex and causing a seven-car pileup on Highway 153 on the dam.
The twister touched down on Queen Aire Lane in Hixson, damaging six homes, including one that was not deemed habitable. It also caused heavy damage at the apartments at Lakeshore on the Hill. There were no reported injuries, but a substantial amount of property damage. The Red Cross was helping residents in one house find shelter for the night and the EPB was still working to restore power late Tuesday night.
Five people - including a child - were transported from the wreck scene with non-life threatening injuries.
Hamilton County Schools will start two hours late on Wednesday morning as authorities assess the storm damage throughout the county.
Officials said, "This means school will start two hours later than normal. Buses will run their normal routes based on this delayed schedule. This decision was made to ensure the safety of our students by allowing them to travel to school during daylight hours. All before school activities are cancelled. Before school child care will not be offered.
"School district personnel will be out in the county in the morning to assess the situation and any damage from the storm."
Polk County Schools will also be on a two-hour delay as will the Girls Leadership Academy. Notre Dame will start at 9:30 a.m.
At 8:30 p.m., EPB had over 500 power outages for Hixson-Northgate and between 100 and 200 for North Chattanooga. At one point, there were 1,800 homes without power. EPB had 51 crews out.
The twister touched down on the north side of the dam and went along Lake Resort Drive to around Ganns Store Road. A number of trees were knocked down, including some on homes, and a roof was torn off one house. There was damage at the Lakeshore Apartments.
Amy Maxwell of Hamilton County Emergency Preparedness said she had not been advised of any damage to the dam itself. Inspectors with TVA and TDOT were checking the structural integrity of the bridge.
Brandon Wilson, who lives near the dam, told Channel 9 he saw a funnel cloud that passed quickly. He said he went out afterward and saw one building down near the dam. At Lakeshore Terrace at the "Round About" several mobile homes used for construction contractors for the Chickamauga Dam lock project had significant damage and there was debris on the road.
Franklin Cunningham told Channel 12 he was in a boat near the Dupont-Rivermont Park boat ramp when he saw a funnel cloud on the water roaring up the river. He said he did not have time to get to shore and "rode it out" on the river.
He said a buddy was on the bank nearby and his truck was spun around 180 degrees by the storm.
He said he watched the tornado roll on up the river, then lift up over the dam. He said it then dropped back down in the Lakeshore area.
Steve Crowley told Channel 12 he was on the dam in the southbound lane when the tornado passed. He said fencing and piping that is alongside the dam began blowing onto the roadway.
He said while he was on his cell phone with a 911 operator that cars began colliding in the northbound lane as they came up on the debris.
After the wreck on the dam, northbound traffic was backed up all the way to Amnicola Highway. Southbound lanes were closed to allow emergency personnel to reach the scene.
Northbound lanes on Thrasher Bridge over the Chickamauga Dam reopened shortly after 10 p.m. Southbound lanes were to be open around midnight or 1 a.m.
On Sequoyah Access, a tree fell on a car. There was no report of any injuries in that incident.
Hamilton County was under a tornado warning for several hours on Tuesday afternoon, prompting some early school closings and some governments to send employees home earlier. There continued to be tornado warnings and sightings near Chattanooga through the early evening.
There was a sighting of a tornado in Red Bank at 6:41 p.m. The National Weather Service at the time said, "This is a dangerous storm! Take cover now!"
A number of areas, especially just north of the city, including Soddy Daisy, were pounded with rain and lashed with high winds in the late afternoon and early evening.
A severe thunderstorm headed for Chattanooga from the vicinity of Jasper around 5:15 p.m. It contained high winds and possible hail.
Then after 6 p.m. there was a new tornado warning for Hamilton County approaching from Marion County. The NWS said a tornado that was moving east was spotted at Haletown. This strong storm was first reported five miles south of Jasper, then it headed for Signal Mountain, Red Bank, Hixson, Middle Valley, Ooltewah and Collegedale. This was apparently the storm that struck near the dam.
The National Weather Service said one tornado was spotted during the afternoon near Ringgold moving toward Cleveland, while another was near Dunlap headed toward Sale Creek.
The NWS said at 3:42 p.m. a tornado was located six miles east of Dunlap moving northeast at 50 mph. It was expected to affect mainly rural areas of Hamilton, Sequatchie and Bledsoe counties, including Sale Creek and Brayton.
The NWS at 4:07 p.m. said that Doppler radar "indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Ringgold or 12 miles east of Lakeview." It was moving northeast at 45 mph.
The NWS said, "This is a dangerous storm with strong rotation. Take cover now!!"
At 4:24 p.m., Doppler radar "continued to indicate a tornado." It was located near Waterville - eight miles south of Cleveland - moving northeast at 45 mph. That tornado was expected to be near Benton around 4:40 p.m.
Earlier the NWS said Hamilton County was among 28 East Tennessee counties under a tornado watch until 10 p.m.
Nearby counties under the watch included Bradley, Polk, Rhea, McMinn, Meigs and Monroe.
Hamilton County Schools closed 30 minutes early because of the National Weather Service advisory of approaching severe weather.
The forecast had included the possibility of high winds and tornado activity hitting the Chattanooga area as soon as 5 p.m.
The city of East Ridge closed city hall and city offices at 4 p.m. due to the severe weather threat. In addition, there were no events or activities held at Camp Jordan or the East Ridge Community Center Tuesday night.
All East Ridge field operations in fire, police and public works worked normal hours and provided additional support as needed.
East Ridge Municipal Court scheduled for 5 p.m. was canceled. Anyone who is scheduled to be in East Ridge Municipal Court was asked to call the court clerk’s office to reschedule. The clerk’s office can be reached at 867-2701.
All afternoon and evening activities, including parent-teacher conferences and athletics, were canceled at the Hamilton County Schools.
Child care was also closed, so parents who have children who attend child care needed to make arrangements to pick up their children from school during the early dismissal.
Drivers education classes scheduled to begin Tuesday at the Shepherd Community/Rec Center at 4:30 were postponed. The classes will begin Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Some Chattanooga neighborhood recreation centers closed at 4 p.m. The Parks and Recreation Department asked citizens to please call a recreation center to check with the facility managers and staffs regarding the weather closure.
Traffic was stalled on the dam on Highway 153 after tornado touched down nearby
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