Michael McNabb was just trying to get home after work.
The Hixson resident had just finished his work day at the Tennessee Valley Authority on Thursday and gotten on U.S. Highway 27 heading north.
He was in the center lane, approaching the last downtown exit, when cars in front of him started swerving into other lanes.
With its single merge and exit lane, the Fourth Street exit can be a tricky interchange even outside of rush hour, when swarms of people head to the highway to get home. But this time the issue wasn't what was coming onto the road, but what was in it.
Michael McNabb was headed home from his job at TVA when his car suffered two flat tires and bent wheels after hitting a pothole on Highway 27 northbound in between the MLK Boulevard exit and the Fourth Street exit Thursday, Mar. 5, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Several cars suffered flat tires before TDOT workers arrived to patch the hole. 
Michael McNabb talks on his phone while Cain Wrecker Company picks up his car Thursday, Mar. 5, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. McNabb was headed home from his job at TVA when his car suffered two flat tires and bent wheels after hitting a pothole on Highway 27 northbound in between the MLK Boulevard exit and the Fourth Street exit. Several cars suffered flat tires before TDOT workers arrived to patch the hole. McNabb saw the cause of their panic -- a very large pothole -- too late.
"Boom! It jacked my car up," McNabb said.
He steered his injured Volkswagen Jetta toward four other vehicles that had fallen victim to the pothole and been moved to the nearby Exit 1C ramp.
Both of McNabb's driver-side tires were completely flat. There was also severe, visible damage to his front rim.
McNabb's friend, Elijah Grisso, was on the phone with McNabb when it happened.
"I heard the noise," Grisso said. "I was like, 'Did you wreck?'"
Workers with the Tennessee Department of Transportation were clustered around the pothole a little after 4 p.m., filling it with cold asphalt mix for emergency repairs. A member of the crew said the pothole's previous patch -- done in December -- broke apart. That's a common problem brought on by repeated freezing and thawing over the last several weeks, according to Jennifer Flynn, Region 2 spokeswoman for TDOT.
"This time of year it is difficult to get anything but cold mix to patch potholes with, so we do the best we can until the hot-mix asphalt plants begin production when the weather improves and warms up," Flynn said. "Once that happens, our crews will make more permanent repairs on the potholes."
McNabb contacted his insurance company and said he hoped the state would pay for the damage.
"It's just a hassle having to deal with this," McNabb said. "Yesterday wouldn't have been too bad, in the 70-degree weather, but here we are in the 30s."
Flynn said that as long as TDOT makes an effort to repair potholes within a reasonable time after notification, it is unlikely the agency would have to reimburse drivers for damages caused by them.
"The only recourse for someone wanting to recover damages would be for them to file a claim with the state of Tennessee," Flynn said. "It is up to the Board of Claims to investigate and determine whether the state is liable for damages."
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.