Flash Flood — Hamilton, Tennessee

2025-08-12 · near Brainerd, Hamilton, Tennessee

Event narrative

TDOT Smartway camera photos showed significant flooding on Interstate 24 at McBrien Road. Vehicles that entered the floodwater in the recent half hour have been abandoned, with drivers crossing the interstate divider and being helped to higher. Later photos and videos from social media showed cars floating on the interstate in this same 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 → (35.0119, -85.2331)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1287784. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.