CHATTANNOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Storm deaths have reached 33 in Tennessee with persistent violent weather stretching some 185 miles from southeast Tennessee to the northeast corner.
The deaths confirmed Thursday included nine in Hamilton and Bradley counties, seven in Greene County, four in Bledsoe County, two in Johnson County and one each in Sequatchie and Washington counties.
In one of the latest confirmed deaths, Sequatchie County Emergency Management Director Rusty Cheatham said a man died after being swept away by a rushing stream in the Cartwright community.
The victim's body was recovered after water carried him down the Cartwright Gulf around 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Bob Galt of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office said Thursday morning that at least 9 fatalities occurred when storms struck the area east of Chattanooga overnight.
Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Amy Maxwell confirmed Thursday an additional nine deaths north of Chattanooga. The latest confirmed deaths were in the Appison community in northern Hamilton County.
Seven people were killed by apparent tornado touchdowns in Greene County, in the state's northeastern corner.
Heather Sipe, an operations officer for the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday morning that two storms hit the Camp Creek and Horse Creek areas in the southern part of Greene County during hours of darkness.
Their names were not immediately available.
Sipe said the first storm struck about 9:45 p.m. EDT Wednesday and the second one hit at about 1:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.
A woman identified by Hamilton County authorities as 41-year-old Mai Crumley was killed Wednesday when a storm toppled a tree onto her mobile home.
Scattered power outages were reported across East Tennessee Thursday morning. Meanwhile, river flooding was increasing in West Tennessee with some roads being closed.
The death toll from the storms that lashed the South has grown to total of 249 and is expected to rise.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Cleveland, TN (Photo from WDEF viewer)
