Flash Flood — Hamilton, Tennessee

2025-08-12 · near East Lake, Hamilton, Tennessee

Event narrative

Flash flooding was ongoing at the Cascade Motel on Ringgold Road. A few evacuations had been done in this area.

Wider weather episode

A weak upper low helped advect near record moisture into Tennessee, where a boundary and classic heavy rain profiles combined to produce extreme rainfall rates over portions of Chattanooga, leading to numerous water rescues, a few evacuations, flooded interstate and local roads, flooded homes, and unfortunately a few fatalities. One fatality occurred in the east Brainerd area after a driver went around police barricades and was swept away in the flood waters. Damage estimates as of September 2025 were at least $1.7 million dollars per emergency management.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.0025, -85.2618)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1287781. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.