Mutiple employees from Impact Plastics died after Hurricane Helene causes intense flooding in Tennessee

[raisedbywolves]

I've read in multiple places that the employees were told they would be fired if they left, and then managers fled leaving the employees alone at the factory. Not sure if it's true or not. I know one of the employees has already been found deceased.

https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/impa...-after-floods/

A plastics manufacturer in Unicoi County expressed sympathy after several employees went missing or died amid catastrophic flooding.

Impact Plastics issued a press release on Monday stating that the company “expresses sympathy for the missing and deceased employees and one contractor during the historic and devastating floods at its facility on Friday, September 27.”

Impact Plastics is located in the Riverview Industrial Park in Erwin.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” Impact Plastics founder Gerald O’Connor said in the release. “Those who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.”

According to Impact Plastics, the company was monitoring weather conditions on Friday morning after intense rainfall the night before.

Employees were dismissed by management to their homes when the plant lost power and water started covering the parking lot and nearby service road, according to the release.

“At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility,” the release states. “For employees who were non-English speaking, bi-lingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message.”

The company stated that some employees left the industrial park in a truck owned by a neighboring company and driven by a driver employed by the other company. Other Impact Plastics employees reportedly left by taking the CSX railroad track behind the plant because of high waters that had entered the front of the facility.

“Due to the quickly rising water, the truck tipped over and five employees and a contractor aboard the truck went missing,” the release states. “Five others who were also on the truck when it tipped over made it to safety and were later evacuated. Those who departed by the railroad tracks were offered assistance from employees of an adjacent company, making it to safety.”

According to the company, a National Guard helicopter was sent at the request of senior management to search for other employees. The helicopter airlifted five other employees to safety, the release states.

[Nic B]

Ugh that is terrible.

Does anyone know what areas of Tennessee are impacted by the storms? I have in-laws there but want to make sure it's not near them before I look like a dumbass, because I suck at geography lol.

[raisedbywolves]

@Nic, the eastern area that borders on VA and NC. Like the Knoxville and surrounding areas I believe.

[Nic B]

Hm, they are in Loudon. Will have to google that.

[Nic B]

Oh shit...

"A line of severe thunderstorms left widespread damage this morning in many counties, including Loudon and Knox County."

https://3bmedianews.com/widespread-s...d-knox-county/

I just sent my mother-in-law a text.

[raisedbywolves]

We have good friends in that county. They also moved there from Florida after they got tired of dealing with hurricanes. I just reached out to them to check on them too.

ETA: they just got back with me and said they are good, that all the damage is east of there.

[Nic B]

Yep, same. Just minor flooding, my MIL said.

[raisedbywolves]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/...hel-rcna173597

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state's criminal investigation agency, said Wednesday it is looking into allegations against an Erwin plastics factory where several workers died and some went missing after they were swept away by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene.

"At the request of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney, TBI agents are investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics," Leslie Earhart, the bureau's spokesperson, said in a statement to NBC News. The bureau deferred additional questions to the District Attorney General's Office.

Finney in a statement said that he specifically asked "that they review the occurrences of Friday, September 27, 2024, to identify any potential criminal violations."

Relatives of the missing and deceased workers and factory employees who survived have alleged they were made to show up to work despite the hurricane moving through the area. Some have said they were denied the chance to leave before the floodwaters from heavy rainfall inundated the plastics factory's parking lot and cut off their escape routes.

Robert "Robby" Jarvis, one of the surviving employees, told NBC News his requests to leave were denied and he was told instead to move his car, which he did twice.

He said despite the weather "we were told to be at work" and about 30 people were working Friday morning when the flooding trapped them. He described a scene of chaos and panic as workers tried to traverse the deadly waters.

[Bewitchingstorm]

I am glad they investigating it.

[Angiebla]

Why would they ask them to come in with a big storm coming? Were they trying to get sue?

Im glad some of the employees lived to tell the truth.

[Nic B]

Fuck that, I wouldn't have come in. Let them fire me for that, and I would sue for wrongful termination.

[Bewitchingstorm]

I am going to do some more digging, but here are the names of the employees.

Confirmed or Reported Dead:

Bertha Mendoza (56) https://www.ledfordfuneralhomes.com/...Bertha-Mendoza
Johnny Peterson (55) https://www.ledfordfuneralhomes.com/...ohnny-Peterson
Lidia Verdugo (son reports she was found dead) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014240506593
Monica Hernandez (AKA Monica Hernandez Corona)
Sibrina Barnett https://www.facebook.com/sibrina.barnett

Missing:

Rosa Maria Andrade Reynoso (AKA Rosy Andrade)

[Bewitchingstorm]

I am sure this will be the first of many filings...and rightfully so.

The family of an Impact Plastics employee caught in the Hurricane Helene floodwaters has sued the company over his death.

The suit against Impact Plastics was filed Oct. 14 in Unicoi County by the family of Johnny Peterson. He is one of the five Impact Plastics employees who died in the historic flooding that ripped through Erwin. Another worker is missing.

Peterson, 55, was a floor manager who worked at the plant for over 35 years, since shortly after the plant opened.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/...n/75585391007/

[kevansvault]

Anyone who may come across this thread: Many of you are young and impressionable but also want to be known as "good employees". Do not, under any circumstances, put yourself in danger for a job unless that is part of your job description, like firefighter, medic, police officer. And all of those jobs have danger mitigating processes and standard operating procedures to ensure that things go as safely as possible.

Do not put your life at risk for your crap ass warehouse job, or your job at a fucking plastics factory. if you are in danger, get the fuck out. You owe no one an explanation, you get to safety. Is that understood? The company doesn't give two fucks about you, you are less than a number to them. You don't matter to them in the least. You are a cheap, replaceable means to an end.

Get yourself to safety. Get others to safety. And don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't. They can NOT tell you that you can't leave if your life is endangered by remaining. Get out. Then you can live long enough to tell your superiors to fuck the hell off after you sue the bloody fucking piss out of them.

[Angiebla]

At my favorite beloved job, if I was running late or the weather was bad they would say "get here safely if you can, its definately not worth your safety or life to try to get here on time or get here at all". Sometimes, when there was a light snow over any ice, they would tell me not to come in at all, as I lived 30 minutes away.

There arent many places like that anymore. No job is worth your life.

I really hope these "bosses" are fucking held accountable. I also hope they die in a flood. fair is fair.

[kevansvault]

Agreed.

I worked over forty miles from my home, and Texas is famous for it's ice storms. I have many times traveled those miles in weather that would otherwise keep me home, but the nature of my job makes me necessary personnel, so I do what I can to make it. Four inches of ice? No worries. Flood waters? Yeah, okay.

But no, they can't tell you "You need to stay." - The fuck you do. You need to do whatever you need to do to get to safety. If that means leaving, then go. Fuck them and their shit job. As Angie said, no job is worth your life.

I hope the lawsuits from these families bankrupt the business. They deserve no less.

[Bewitchingstorm]

Unicoi County Search and Rescue have announced that the body of the last missing Impact Plastics employee has now been recovered.

Officials confirmed 29-year-old Rosa Andrade was found dead more than a month after flooding from Hurricane Helene. Andrade was among six workers at Impact Plastics who were killed in the flooding. Andrade leaves behind a husband and two children.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it had opened an investigation into Impact Plastics last month.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was also investigating the way the company handled the historic flooding after some employees claimed the company did not allow them to leave the Erwin facility with enough time to get to safety.

https://www.wvlt.tv/2024/11/01/final...nd-police-say/