With heavy rains expected to continue into Thursday, Chattanooga was under a flash flood watch.
Hamilton County Schools will be closed on Thursday due to flooding in the area. Heavy rains and high winds are expected tonight and tomorrow with flooding around creeks and streams that will have a major impact on getting children to school and back home again. Emergency personnel are already reporting trees down in the community. Most of the flooding concerns are in the northern part of the county.
School-aged childcare locations will be open Thursday from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m. at Battle Elementary, Daisy Elementary, East Brainerd Elementary, East Ridge Elementary, Middle Valley Elementary, Harrison Elementary, and Red Bank Elementary.
The State of the System address scheduled for Howard High on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. will take place as scheduled.
Due to the inclement weather conditions, all campuses of Cleveland State Community College will be closed Thursday.
All campuses of Georgia Northwestern Technical College will open at 10 a.m. on Thursday due to severe weather.
Closed Thursday will be the Cleveland City Schools, the Dayton Schools, the McMinn County Schools and the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy. Bradley County Schools closed early on Wednesday.
TVA was holding a conference call with news media on Thursday at noon from its River Forecast Center "to update the current status of the Tennessee River system and its tributaries, as well as planned additional actions to be taken in the coming days due to heavy rainfall."
The National Weather Service said:
From this evening through late Thursday evening
* Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are expected with isolated higher amounts.
* Heavy rain with showers and thunderstorms could cause flash flooding. People in the watch area should be aware of the possibility of rapidly rising creeks and streams. Avoid low lying areas...and be careful when approaching highway dips and underpasses. Never attempt to drive across a flooded road.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Flash Flood Watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation.