The
History of the
Lookout
Valley
Community
By
Richard
Alexander McKeel
Chapter
Fourteen
“Natural
Disasters that hit
Lookout
Valley
”
1.
Floods
Before the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority the
Tennessee River
was not a calm river as it
is today. In fact, most times of the year the river was impossible to navigate.
However, when the
Chickamauga
and Nickajack Dams were this
mad the
Tennessee River
easier to navigate.
Even when the dams were built; however, it did not stop the problems
especially those days, of following continuous days of rainfall. After, three
consecutive days, of rainfall, a flood occupy
Chattanooga
in March 1973 this would be
called the “Saint Patrick’s Day Flood.” This flood hit
Lookout
Valley
very hard with much the same
result as happened in
Chattanooga
. Many homes and businesses
were affected by the water from the flooded
Tennessee River
. Another flood hurt
Lookout
Valley
in 1982 having the same
result as the previous one damaging businesses and homes on Brown’s
Ferry Road
.
In
May 9, 2003
a monster flood struck
Lookout
Valley
causing much of the same
effect as the previous ones. These floods are always a possible because of where
Lookout
Valley
is located down stream from
the Chickamauga Dam. This flood was the results of the tributaries of the
Tennessee River
were already over flood
stage. When they release the flood gates from Chickamauga Dam, the water
dispersed into
Lookout
Valley
causing sever damage.
Photos of the
May
9, 2003
Flood

Morning after Three Consecutive Days of Rain
|
A father and son floating down a
boat on
|
Brown’s Ferry at the Brown’s Ferry Center
|
Water on Brown’s
Ferry Road
|
Wauhatchie Pike
|
Parker Lane at Brown’s Ferry
|
2.
The Blizzard of 1993
March 12-14, 1993
,
Chattanooga
had an unexpected guest come
to visit. Anyone that remembers these dates can tell you the story of the
“Blizzard of 1993.” Everyone remembers the day before was a very mild day
with temperature was in the seventies. The night the temperature dropped; and
the snowfall began after mid-night and snowed continuously for the next two days
with an accumulation of more then twenty inches of snow in
Lookout
Valley
.
3.
Tropical Depression Opal
Usually when people think of tropical depression, they think of them
happening near the ocean. However, in October 1995 Hurricane Opal, after landing
on the
Alabama
and
Florida
line, continued going
northeast and eventually became a Tropical Depression. Opal dropped great
amounts of rain into areas around
Chattanooga
and
Lookout
Valley
causing flooding.
4.
Easter Weekend Tornado
On
March 30, 1997
, the first ever tornado
touched down in
Lookout
Valley
. Many roofs of businesses
and homes were damaged and trees were uprooted. One of the damaged buildings was
the drive-through of the Sun Trust Bank on Kelley’s
Ferry Road
. However, luckily no one
died in the tornado.
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Richard Alexander McKeel
___________________________________
Copyright
©
2004
mailto:richardamckeel@bellsouth.net