Some say they're sick of getting soaked

Soggy September days have area residents singing the weather blues.

Power outages and flash flooding have been reported across the area throughout the week following a barrage of storms and showers.

"I'm sick of it," said Trisha Boehm, of Rising Fawn, Ga.

Ms. Boehm -- a teacher at East Lake Elementary School -- said she had to clean up flooded hallways and classrooms last week at the school.

"We didn't close down, but it was pretty bad," she said. "We had a hard time feeding our kids breakfast because it flooded the whole cafeteria."

Ms. Boehm said she was ready for a change in the weather, which has started to affect her mood.

"It's been making me sleep a lot this week," she said. "I've slept a lot and not gotten anything done."

Harry Swanger, of Chattanooga, said his East Brainerd home had remained "mostly high and dry," but he knew of others in the area who experienced flooding in recent days. He said he was ready for an ending to the perpetual rain, which has been hitting Chattanooga for a week straight.

"It's like we either get lots or nothing in the rain here," he said.

Forecasters expect more rain and thunderstorms in the coming days.

"I'm not excited about that," Ms. Boehm said.

Chattanooga has recorded about 4 inches of rainfall this month, according to Mary Black, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn. Showers are expected to continue throughout this week. Ms. Black said the area will probably see at least one "stray dry day" this week.

"But for the most part it does look like were going to have some shower activity across the area for probably the next four to seven days," Ms. Black said.

Channel 9 meteorologist Allison Chinchar, said heavier rain was expected for Sunday night with an "almost 100 percent chance of rain Monday." Because the ground is already so saturated, a five to 10 mile per hour wind could be enough to knock trees down, she said. The already-soaked terrain makes flooding an even bigger problem, she said.

"It's because you have it so much at once," Ms. Chinchar said.

Ms. Chinchar said most of the area lakes and rivers were not at flood levels, but Carters Lake in Georgia was approaching flood levels Sunday night.

El Nino, a weather pattern that warms water in the Pacific Ocean and causes changing weather, is partly to blame for the uncharacteristically wet weather," Ms. Chinchar said.

"Typically the fall is our dry season, so it is rather rare for this to be happening," she said.

The rainfall in North Georgia has remained steady as well but is expected to "get back to a more normal pattern" within the next few days, said Matt Sena, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Peach Tree City, Ga. Some flooding was reported Sunday in Atlanta's western suburbs, Mr. Sena, but it wasn't nearly as severe as Saturday's flooding of downtown areas.

Catoosa County dispatchers confirmed flooding of roads, homes and businesses Sunday evening, although no injuries were reported.

No area school systems were planning closures as of Sunday night.

"I think weather like this makes you slow down a little bit," said Ann Marie Hartman of Chattanooga. "It's not a terribly bad thing. You've just got to watch your mood that it doesn't get too dim."