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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Chattanooga area cleans up after storms wreak havoc across region

Ronnie Adams has lived in his house in Red Bank for 45 years.

“That was the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said of storms that caused a tornado, several house fires, a barn fire and left more than 19,000 people without power at some point in Chattanooga and the surrounding area Tuesday night.

A tree in Adams’ front yard fell onto Lynda Drive, damaging a wall alongside his driveway. He’s just happy the tree didn’t fall the other way, onto his house.

“I guess God’s not quite done with us yet,” the 70-year-old Adams said.

The tornado was spotted a couple of counties to the east, in Monroe County, Tenn. The EF-1 had winds that reached 90-95 miles per hour, the National Weather Service said, and occurred just west of New Highway 68, causing large trees to uproot and snap. It had a path of 200 yards, a length of 7.8 miles and lasted 12 minutes.