KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- You might have thought it was more like the first snow of the season, with the slick roads caused by Tuesday’s much-needed rain.

There were heavy downpours at times, and there were even some problems on the roads this morning, but it isn't all bad.

The wet stuff is helping us catch up from an almost-three-year drought.

It's been almost a month since we've seen rainfall like this, and even though the downpours are a welcomed sight for farmers and your lawns, problems on the roadways started early Tuesday morning.

KPD says weather is likely the cause of a tractor trailer accident on I-275 in North Knoxville.

Police say shortly before 4 a.m., the driver lost control near the Woodland Avenue exit and ran off the road and hit the guard rail.

He was taken to UT Medical Center with a shoulder injury.’=

The truck was carrying various pipes and small amounts of hydrochloric acid. Haz-Mat was called to the scene as a precaution, but authorities say the hydrochloric acid did not leak.

Heavy downpours also caused more than 8,200 customers in northeast Knox County to lose power Tuesday morning, including at Halls High School, Halls Middle School, and Halls Elementary School where students were already in class.

KUB says a substation on Andersonville Pike went down. Crews had electricity back up and running within an hour.

Despite these issues, the rain is helping with the five inch shortage this year.

In total, we're now 16 inches below normal for the last two years.

TVA is now only generating a minimal amount of hydroelectric power because of the lack of rain, and farmers are continuing with the same problems they faced during last year's historic drought.

The few inches of rain expected over the next few days won't put a major dent in the rain shortage, but it's a start.

Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay and what’s left of her, we're expected to see steady rainfall through Wednesday.