Flooding in Tennessee, September 20 to 24, 2009

Widespread minor street flooding began, and eventually escalated into areal and river flooding. The South Chickamauga Creek exceeded its banks and flooded surrounding areas of Chattanooga and East Ridge. The West Chickamauga Creek also contributed to flooding along the South Chickamauga, and areas of East Ridge. The South Chickamauga stage reached 28.54', which is the second highest recorded stage on that river. Numerous businesses and roads were affected by the high waters, with several drivers having to be rescued after driving into flooded streets. Creeks flowing off the Cumberland Plateau in northern Hamilton County also caused flooding in the Soddy Daisy areas, closing roads. One fatality occurred on 9/20/2009, when a 46 year old man, on a wager, tried to swim across a drainage ditch full of rushing water, and was swept into the aqueduct system. His friend, a 36 year old man, tried to rescue him and sustained minor injuries. Officials report that alcohol was possibly involved. According to officials, the ditch was not out of its banks at the time.

Several roads in and around Cleveland, extending northeast to near Fairview and then southeast to near Watersville, Tennessee had several inches of water covering them from mid morning until late afternoon. Most of the flooding was along highways 311 and 11.

Several roads were flooded from Athens to Englewood, then south to Etowah, Tennessee. The roads most affected by several inches of water over the roads were highways 30, 39 and 411 in McMinn county.

Very heavy rainfall over several hours produced areal flooding from mid morning to mid evening from near Ducktown to near Isabella, Tennessee. A few roads in and around Ducktown to the Isabella, Tennessee area had several inches to nearly a foot of water over the road. The vast majority of the flooding was along highways 64/70/40 in Polk county.

Very heavy rainfall over several hours produced areal flooding from mid morning to late afternoon mainly near Decatur, Tennessee. A few roads in and around Decatur, Tennessee had several inches to nearly a foot of water over the road. The vast majority of the flooding was along highways 30 and 58 in Meigs county.

Very heavy rainfall over several hours produced areal flooding from mid morning to mid evening from Sweetwater to Madisonville, Tennessee. A few roads in and around Sweetwater to Madisonville, Tennessee had several inches to nearly a foot of water over the road. The vast majority of the flooding was along highways 68 and 11 in Monroe county.

Very heavy rainfall over several hours produced areal flooding from mid morning to late afternoon mainly near Dayton, Tennessee. A few roads in and around Dayton, Tennessee had several inches to nearly a foot of water over the road. The vast majority of the flooding was along highway 27 in Rhea county.

Several roads in and around Pikeville, extending northeast to Cold Springs, Tennessee had several inches of water covering them through the afternoon and into the evening hours. Most of the flooding was along highway 127.

Several roads in and around Jasper Tennessee had several inches of water covering them from mid morning until the late afternoon hours. Most of the flooding was along highways 64 and 28.

Very heavy rainfall over several hours produced areal flooding from mid morning to late afternoon in Dunlap, Tennessee. A few roads in and around Dunlap, Tennessee had several inches to nearly a foot of water over the road. The vast majority of the flooding was along highway 28 in Sequatchie county.