Weather Service tracking tornado, storm path to Chattanooga area

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

photo William Hart stands next to the only remaining corner of his home on Aster Avenue in Tiftonia on Wednesday after strong storms came through the area, causing widespread damage. He huddled with his 3-year-old son, Liam Hart, until the storms passed.

National Weather Service officials are surveying damage in Bradley and Hamilton counties this afternoon to determine if one or more long-track tornadoes were the culprit for damages reported from Dade County, Ga., to Charleston and Calhoun in Bradley County.

Tim Troutman, warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service's Morristown office, said damage he was seeing in Bradley County was clearly tornadic.

"It looks like from the damage I've seen so far that it was definitely a tornado," he said.

What remains to be seen is whether other damages that began in Dade County and recurred in Hamilton County's Lookout Mountain, St. Elmo, Chattanooga, Birchwood and Georgetown also were caused by a tornado and perhaps the same tornado.

Contact Pam Sohn at psohn@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6346.