Steve Leach

Well, when it rains, it pours.

And pours. And pours.

The April showers that began near the end of last month haven’t let up through the beginning of May, and Chattanooga-area residents can expect significant storms this weekend before the region begins to dry out on Monday, officials with the National Weather Service said.

“We’re expecting some rough weather. We could have potential for damaging wind, isolated tornadoes and hail that will continue through the weekend,” said David Gaffin, a forecaster for the weather service in Morristown, Tenn. “Next week will change to a drier pattern.”

Although the area has received about an inch more than the typical rainfall for May, the 20.6 inches for the year still falls below the average of 21.7 inches, Mr. Gaffin said.

“I guess it’s a shock to people because they’re so used to it not raining,” he said. “When you have a good gullywasher like this, you’re kind of amazed.”

If Chattanooga gets severe weather, it’s usually in the springtime, said Mr. Gaffin, who hopes the rain will continue.

“I don’t want any flooding, but this is certainly beneficial rain,” he said.

So far, flooding hasn’t been a huge problem with the recent storms, said Jennifer Flynn, spokeswoman for the Chattanooga regional office of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Still, her office is prepared, she said, and maintenance workers are scouring state roads and interstate highways here in search of clogged drains.

“They’ve got their chainsaws sharpened and ready should any trees fall,” she said. “Basically, we’re at the ready.”

Crews with the city’s Public Works Department also are on the lookout for any potential flooding or weather-related dangers, said Steve Leach, the department’s administrator. He said people can help his staff by calling 311 if they see drains or catch basins clogged by plastic or debris.

“It’s a joint activity,” he said.

The Tennessee Valley Authority also has been active this week in preventing uncontrolled flooding. The agency uses the floodgates on its network of 49 dams to control reservoir levels to limit flooding while maintaining navigation, recreation and power generation.

TVA began spilling water through the Chickamauga Dam on Monday after weekend rains raised levels above agency target levels on Lake Chickamauga and other upstream reservoirs. By spilling more water through the dams, TVA is able to bring lake levels back down and create more storage capacity to handle future rains and runoff.

Although above normal levels, the Tennessee River has remained well below flood levels.

While much of the region is in watch-and-see mode, severe weather already made its way to Donny Hutsell’s house early Friday morning. As the windows of his house vibrated, Mr. Hutsell said, he awoke to a “shrilling sound” right before about a dozen trees fell on his roof.

“It sounded like a bomb went off,” he said.

Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton Children from J.E. Moss Elementary School in Antioch, Tenn., wait under a bridge in front of the Tennessee Aquarium Friday morning to keep dry.

The trees caused surface damage to the building but didn’t break through the roof, Mr. Hutsell said. Still, local tree removal services have been so busy in the last couple of days, he had to wait until today for service.

If heavy rains descend on the area this weekend, Ms. Flynn urged drivers to use common sense.

“The best thing is to slow down,” she said. Speed limits are posted for optimum conditions, and if it’s raining really hard, that’s far from optimum conditions.”

Staff photographer Meg Fenton and staff writer Dave Flessner contributed to this story.