Lauren Millard had just finished showering in the basement of her mother’s home when an earsplitting boom shook the house.
Terrified, the 22-year-old ran up the stairs to find tree branches bursting through the bedroom ceiling and covering her bed. Broken belongings were thrown across the room, and water was everywhere.
When she looked out the window of her Red Bank home, she saw the yard was on fire. The 30-year-old pine tree that crashed on top of her home had snapped electric wires that now were flaming and jumping across the street.
“I could smell the smoke inside the house,” she said. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do or where to go.”
In about 30 minutes, Monday’s storm surged across Hamilton County, leaving behind about 37,000 homes without power. Chattanooga’s Public Works Department was called to remove 48 downed trees and the back half of a downtown building collapsed.