Lightning view from Lookout Mountain
Chattanooga was in the path of a line of deadly tornadoes on Saturday moving on into early Sunday, but no Tennessee casualties have been reported.
Elsewhere, there were 34 casualties from the widespread storm.
The area was battered by storms beginning in the late evening, with a tornado watch in effect in the Red Bank area at one point and a tornado watch also menacing nearby sections of North Georgia. A later tornado warning covered the area between Dunlap and Sale Creek.
There were no immediate reports of heavy damage.
Near the start of the furious outbreak, three people were killed in Missouri, where a trailer park was destroyed and a grocery store and other buildings and homes were wrecked. By noon, the storm death toll was listed as 14. By the evening, it was up to 28 as the storm approached Tennessee - with the first wave going to the west of Chattanooga toward Murfreesboro.
Chattanoogans, after sunny skies on Friday, awoke to heavy rain along with constant thunder bolts and lightning flashes.
The weather cleared by late morning, but forecasters warned that the worst was ahead.
In addition to the tornado threat, Chattanooga was also under a flood watch. Several rounds of heavy rain were expected through Sunday morning. Most areas were expected to get 2-3 inches of rain, with higher amounts in some locations.
The National Weather Service said, "A severe weather outbreak is likely across portions of the eastern United States today into tonight with the greatest threat in East Tennessee being along the Cumberland Plateau, Southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina.
"Widespread and significant damaging winds are likely. There is also a threat for tornadoes and large hail."