A mother, father and child were killed when a tree fell on their car during heavy rains and flooding in Tennessee, where flooded roads led to dramatic rescues of people trapped in their cars, authorities said, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The three died when waterlogged soil caused a large tree to fall in the Chattanooga East Ridge suburb shortly after midnight, Hamilton County Emergency Management spokeswoman Amy Maxwell said.
Authorities also found a body while searching for a man who was swept away as he ran past firefighters and a barricade blocking a flooded road in Tuesday, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department. Local police and the medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
The flooding forced the rescue of people trapped in homes and cars trapped in the water.
At a news conference, officials said they had not expected so much rain and flooding so quickly.
At one point, there were 60 vehicles on the flooded interstate, said Chris Adams, Hamilton County emergency management director. Some of the first responders carried people who were unable to move through the water on their backs and placed them on the raised median strip of the highway.