The people, including a child, are dead and flash flood warnings were in effect across Tennessee on Wednesday, Aug. 13, after floodwaters brought on by the deadly storms trapped cars near Chattanooga.

On Tuesday, Aug.12, at around 11:46 p.m. local time, police arrived at the scene of the accident, the East Ridge Police Department told USA TODAY.

The victims, driver Yuri Tomas Vicente Lopez, 29, passengers Giomara Epifania Vasquez, 27, and Emma Vicente, 3, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The driver and two passengers were heading north when a large tree fell on top of the gray SUV they were in during the storm. The tree also fell on power lines, causing an outage that is ongoing as of Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 1:20 p.m. ET.

Police are investigating the crash and working to identify the victims.

Eastern Tennessee faces historic floods

The deaths come as historic floods swept through the eastern part of the state.

Videos from Tuesday, Aug. 12, posted online show cars wading through a deluge on an interstate near Chattanooga. The waters were so deep that some cars were almost completely submerged, and only their roofs were visible through the brown, murky waters.

The floodwaters shut down Interstate 24 until around 10 p.m. ET, Rae Anne Bradley, the regional communications officer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation in Chattanooga and the Cumberland Plateau, stated in a post on X. When water had receded, the interstate lanes traveling east were reopened.

Then, early Aug. 13, westward lanes reopened after crews cleared disabled vehicles remaining on the interstate.

In Nashville, rain also delayed the reopening of I-40 near the Nashville International Airport, which originally closed for milling and paving work, according to Erin Zeigler, the regional communications officer for Middle Tennessee.

Record-breaking rain

On Tuesday, Chattanooga received 6.52 inches of rain, with the majority of the rain falling between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time, according to Dan Pydynowski, a lead meteorologist with AccuWeather told USA TODAY in an email.

"That was a record amount of rainfall for the date, easily breaking the old record of 1.93 inches of rainfall that fell on Aug. 12, 2013," wrote Pydynowski.

Areas just east of downtown Chattanooga reportedly received six inches.

Areas in Eastern and Central Tennessee will remain under flash flood watches as more showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue throughout Wednesday, Aug. 13, early into the night, according to Pydynowski.

Some of Wednesday's storms could "contain additional flooding downpours."

Storms could continue to roll through Eastern Tennessee on Thursday, Aug. 14, and Friday, Aug. 15.

This story has been updated with new information.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 killed when tree falls on car amid treacherous Tennessee flooding

Reporting by Julia Gomez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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