Andy Page holds a pet carrier with his cat, Ellie, inside Thursday after locating her in what used to be his Village Green apartment in Trenton, Ga. Page managed to get some of his cats out, but could not find Ellie after his apartment was destroyed by a tornado Wednesday.
Staff Photo by Angela Lewis/Chattanooga Times Free PressClick here to view what each Times Free Press photographer chose as their best photographs of 2011.
Chattanooga's news in 2011 was dominated by violence -- violent streets and violent weather.
During the last week of April, a swarm of tornadoes swept through the Chattanooga area. It was part of a historic outbreak April 25-28 that killed more than 300 people in the South and Midwest, according to The Associated Press.
Times Free Press photographers were in the vanguard of journalists covering the storms. Photographer Angela Lewis captured the surreal quality of the aftermath with a photograph of Trenton, Ga., resident, Andy Page with a cat carrier containing his pet, Ellie.
A spate of homicides hit the city in 2011, with 23 total as of last week. There have been 89 shootings so far this year. Three were injured in a photo here taken in late October by Jake Daniels.
On the lighter side, Times Free Press photographers documented people at work and at play.
The driver of a Mercury Mystique crawls out of his vehicle after being extricated through the back window by Chattanooga Fire Department firefighters August 21 when his vehicle ran off the road and flipped into some trees at the intersection of Riverside Dr. and Appling St.
A shooting victim is moved past bystanders on Friday night. Three people were shot at the corner of 5th Avenue and E. 31st Street on Friday night. Police were looking for suspects in East Lake Courts.
Chattanooga firefighters work Tuesday to extinguish a blaze at 1905 East 13th Street. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Staff Photo by Angela Lewis
Hundreds of cars fill the Wilderness Outdoor Movie Theater near Trenton, Ga., on a recent Friday night.
Staff Photo by Patrick Smith/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Staff photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press - November 3, 2011. Lisa Cahill RN, Erlanger's Bereavement Coordiantor, holds a mould of a deceased infants feet while in Erlanger's "Never Forgotten Office".
Wayne Keck, from Ringgold, Ga., fishes near Harrison Bay early Thursday morning. "Fog is a good sign of spring." Keck said, speaking about how the next three weeks will be the best fishing of the year.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Ed Huey teaches students how to hambone during a class as part of the Folk Stomp, a fund-raising event for the Folk School of Chattanooga held at the St. Elmo Fire Hall.
Dale Wooten grinds down the inside of a wind tower Thursday afternoon. The German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S. held a regional event at the SAIG Aerisyn plant Friday afternoon. The event culminated in a tour of the plant, which produces wind power towers.
Unusual foods can be bought at local grocery stores.
Photo illustration by Angela Lewis/Chattanooga Times Free Press