A tree knocked down power lines on Melody Lane, Tuesday evening, as a storm packing high winds raked the area.

The storms which raked Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia on Tuesday evening did only minor damage in East Ridge, officials said Wednesday.

East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams said the city suffered “minor damage in general” from straight line winds that blew trees down and left tens of thousands of people without power in the area.

“With what came through here, I think we got really lucky,” Chief Williams said. “We had minor damage in general.”

That’s not to say that dozens of East Ridge residents are not feeling the wrath of the storm which according to the National Weather Service brought straight line winds in excess of 50 miles per hour to the region. Officials said some East Ridge residents remain without power as of late Wednesday morning.

Parts of Melody Lane were closed to traffic on Wednesday  as a result of tree falling on power lines and snapping a pole. A transformer with live wires were laying on the ground and residents were left without power. Officials said nothing can be done at the moment until workers with the Electric Power Board respond to make the area safe for cleanup. 

Officials said a small tree was blown over on a house on Cherokee Avenue near Clayton Avenue. No one was injured.

Chief Williams said that several commercial signs along Ringgold Road were damaged on the east side of town near Spring Creek Road. Officials said the straight line winds blew over garbage cans scattering refuse in roadways.

Chief Williams said there were a couple of reported fires across the state line in Catoosa County. In one fire on Karen Drive, a garage was damaged by flames. Another fire was reported near the Optimist Drag Strip on Scruggs Road, officials said.

This tree on Clayton Avenue was uprooted by high winds which struck the area on Tuesday evening. No injuries were reported.