Flooding Concerns Continue in Tennessee Valley After Rain is Done

The South Chickamauga Creek near on Brainerd Road is high on Wednesday. The official flood gauge is in Chickamauga.  The forecast says it will crest there Thursday afternoon near 23 feet. At that stage, National Weather Service guidelines call for some evacuations of low-lying areas near Spring Creek in East Ridge.

Officer Hopkins at the East Ridge Police Department says no evacuations are planned at this time but everyone is watching the water.

Parts of Dutch Magrath's family business are covered in water today. "It's really only got up into the park about twice in the past 15 years," he said Wednesday.

Despite a paint-ball court submerged in flood water, the co-owner of Sir Gooney's says it could have been worse:  "Fortunately it's not as bad as we thought. We've been watching it since before the rain started."

But it's not just business owners who are watching area rivers and creeks tonight.

Vickie Holt lives on Mack Smith Road in Catoosa County.  "We'll watch it to see how high it gets in the next 30 minutes or hour or so to see if we'll have to go stay at a hotel or a friend's house," she said Wednesday afternoon.

After the remnants of Hurricane Opal blew through, she raised her house two feet up above flood stage.

"Yesterday we go the water coming this way, coming this way, coming this way and coming this way so we're kind of stuck to see what's going to happen," she added.

Residents of Mack Smith Road say the flooding is just something they have to learn to live with. But they say it hasn't been this bad in several years.

"When [the water level] was lower I would drive through it. No way now!" said Holt.

Road closed signs are in several places across the Tennessee Valley, and will be until the rivers and creeks crest. So now it's just a waiting game.

Magrath sums up what everyone is thinking.  "Sunshine would be nice. Think sunny."