Family of three killed during Tennessee floods

At least four people died after heavy rains and sudden floods in Tennessee on Tuesday, officials announced.

A family of two adults and a child died when a tree fell on his car on Wednesday morning following storms at East Ridge, near Chattanooga, said the County Emergency Management and Hamilton Comté management office.

Local officials also found the body of man who, according to him, corresponds to the description of a person seen for the last time by the first stakeholders carried away by flood waters.

Wednesday, warnings of the flash floods were still in force for many parts of Tennessee, including Knoxville.

The local media identified the family, citing city officials, such as Tomas Vicente Lopez, 29, Giomara Epifania Vasquez, 27, and Emma Vicente, three years old.

The mayor of Chattanooga, Tim Kelly, said at a press conference that the man had found corresponding to the description of a person who “unfortunately, without deadline, had been manipulated around the barricades of the fire service and was carried away by a stream”.

He said that the authorities had not yet identified him.

Chattanooga airport saw 6.42 inches (16 cm) of rain on Tuesday, which has made it the second the weast since the city began to follow the precipitation in 1879, the National Weather Service said.

Rescuers spent hours on Tuesday evening to help residents flee from flooded houses and vehicles in Hamilton County, Tennessee, which includes Chattanooga, the local fire service said.

In an incident, the firefighters helped six people get out of a van while the water escaped from an overflowing stream and the van was almost swept away, said Chattanooga fire service.

The mayor of the county of Hamilton, Weston Wamp, said the state of local emergency due to the sudden floods.