EAST RIDGE — About two blocks off Ringgold Road in a residential area, every other house is obscured by a rented dumpster. Brick below waist height on houses is still tinted dark, laden with floodwater. Cars sit, headlights full of water, with every door open and industrial fans attempting to salvage what can be salvaged.
Yards are littered with personal belongings, upholstered furniture and yellow fiberglass insulation, piled beside mailboxes waiting on the garbage truck.
Tuesday brought flash flooding to the Chattanooga area — more than 6 inches of rain in six hours. Cameron Eaves, an East Ridge resident, had seen his yard flood during heavy rain, but water had never entered the house before. Eaves started to get concerned when his yard started to flood, so he flipped all his breakers to protect against a power surge.
The water appeared to recede, he said, so he made himself something to eat.