Last Tuesday, Chattanooga was hit with roughly six inches of rain in what seemed like six minutes of time.

(Two days prior, we published our feature story on flooding, Spring City and the Laurel Dace.)

Dozens of cars were stuck on the interstate, a scene - up until then, at least - that was hard to imagine.

"I got out and walked on the interstate, my feet actually on I-24," one friend said. "It was the strangest moment."

She told me about her experience; I'm recreating it here by memory.

She'd left work, traveling from downtown towards east Brainerd, wipers back-forthing, when she came around the ridge-cut and there was wham: the stand-still traffic jam.

She put her Ford in park. Turned off the engine. The waters were still further down the interstate; she left her car and walked past other parked cars to the water's edge.

She went back to her car and waited.

The waters continued to rise. She looked over at the tall concrete barrier walls, installed during the recent interstate renovation.

"There was nowhere to go," she said. "We were trapped."

She was stuck for more than five hours.

At some point, she reclined her seat. Realizing nobody was going anywhere anytime soon, she took a nap. (Napping would be the last thing I would do. This reminded me of the Gospel story of Jesus in the fishing boat; the stormwaters are high and he's snoozing.)

Here's my favorite part:

"We were all checking on each other," she said. "A little community formed."

No surprise at all. We've lived through multiple hurricanes and multi-day power outages; in each, there was the instinctual reaching out, a natural inclination towards mutual aid.

At one point, a man got out of his truck and began wading through the now-high water.

My friend only remembers this: the sign on his truck was for a Christian non-profit.

He carried around a case of water bottles. Handing them out. Checking on folks. Uplifting, smiling.

As far as we know, this never made headlines.

"But I'll never forget it," she said.

Each day, moments like these - minor acts rooted in kindness - tell the majority story. The problem: media tells another.

To help with flood victims, The Boneyard and Oddstory Brewing are taking donations. More info can be found here.

And, as always, Chattanooga Area Food Bank remains a source of constant help. To donate, visit here.

And, to the man in the truck with the water bottles:

Thanks for reminding us: even within the floods, there is a higher ground.

• On Monday, August 25, Spice Trail is hosting a very special pop-up dinner.

It's called "An Evening with Chattanooga Whiskey."

The special event will feature four-course dinner from Chef Sujata Singh paired with a flight from Chattanooga Whiskey.

According to Sujata, a Chatt. Whiskey ambassador will "guide you through each pour, sharing tasting notes, stories and a glimpse into the craftsmanship behind their award-winning spirits."

The event looks wonderful and odds are, it will sell-out. Move fast. More info can be found here.

• Last Friday, we emailed all members of The Table with our latest list of upcoming events.

A book club on The Catcher in the Rye. A farm tour. Two speaker events. Two super-big dinners.

And next Thursday's Women in the Industry: a Conversation with Amanda Niel and Raven Humphrey.

And our upcoming birthday party!

Please join us. We created The Table for this very reason: engagement, laughter, community.

To sign up for The Table, visit here.

• See you all this Sunday. Working on a sweet story for you.

And wishing everyone a good return to school, especially those families - breathe in, breathe out - dropping kids off at college for the ... first ... time. (Am gonna need both water bottle love and whiskey.)

Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com

This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.

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