{"id":109587,"date":"2024-10-02T17:05:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T10:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109587"},"modified":"2024-10-02T17:05:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T10:05:51","slug":"11-workers-at-a-tennessee-factory-were-swept-away-in-hurricane-helene-flooding-only-5-were-rescued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109587","title":{"rendered":"11 workers at a Tennessee factory were swept away in Hurricane Helene flooding. Only 5 were rescued"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As the rain from Hurricane Helene came down harder and harder, workers inside a plastics factory in rural Tennessee kept working. It wasn\u2019t until water flooded into the parking lot and the power went out that the plant shut down and sent workers home.<\/p>\n<p>Several never made it. <\/p>\n<p>The raging floodwaters swept 11 people away, and only five were rescued. Two of them are confirmed dead and part of the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hurricane-helene-florida-georgia-north-carolina-2277be0d4b8648113508f39bfff56193\">death toll<\/a><\/span> across the affected states that passed 150 Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p>Four others are still unaccounted for since they were washed away Friday in the small town of Erwin, Tennessee, where dozens of people were <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hurricane-helene-florida-georgia-north-carolina-2277be0d4b8648113508f39bfff56193\">rescued off the roof<\/a><\/span> of a hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Some workers managed to drive away from the plant, while others got caught on a clogged road where water rose enough to sweep vehicles away. Videos show the brown floodwaters from the adjacent Nolichucky River covering the nearby highway and lapping at the doors of Impact Plastics.<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the plastics factory, filmed himself and four others waiting for rescue as bobbing vehicles floated by. He later posted the videos on <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61557826408783\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/span> with the caption, \u201cJust wanna say im lucky to be alive.\u201d Videos of the helicopter rescue were posted on social media later on Saturday. <\/p>\n<p>In one video, Ingram can be seen looking down at the camera, a green Tennessee National Guard helicopter hovering above him, hoisting one of the other survivors. In another, a soldier can be seen rigging the next evacuee in a harness.<\/p>\n<p>Impact Plastics said in a statement Monday it \u201ccontinued to monitor weather conditions\u201d on Friday and that managers dismissed employees \u201cwhen water began to cover the parking lot and the adjacent service road, and the plant lost power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In interviews with local news outlets, two of the workers who made it out of the facility disputed those claims. One told <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xYfH8nftFpw&amp;ab_channel=News5WCYB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News 5 WCYB<\/a><\/span> that employees were made to wait until it was \u201ctoo late.\u201d Another, Ingram, made a similar statement to the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/2024\/10\/01\/tennessee-impact-plastics-employees-fought-desperately-to-stay-above-hurricane-helene-floodwaters\/75450498007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Knoxville News Sentinel<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey should\u2019ve evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cWe asked them if we should evacuate, and they told us not yet, it wasn\u2019t bad enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Worker Robert Jarvis told News 5 WCYB that the company should have let them leave earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Jarvis said he tried to drive away in his car, but the water on the main road got too high, and only off-road vehicles were finding ways out of the flood zone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe water was coming up,\u201d he said. \u201cA guy in a 4&#215;4 came, picked a bunch of us up and saved our lives, or we\u2019d have been dead, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 11 workers found temporary respite on the back of a truck driven by a passerby, but it soon tipped over after debris hit it, Ingram said.<\/p>\n<p>Ingram said he survived by grabbing onto plastic pipes that were on the truck. He said he and four others floated for about half a mile (about 800 meters) before they found safety on a sturdy pile of debris. <\/p>\n<p>Impact Plastic said Tuesday it didn\u2019t have any updates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,\u201d company founder Gerald O\u2019Connor said in the statement Monday. \u201cThose who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hurricane Helene\u2019s <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/helene-asheville-north-carolina-c5ff143de63e31bd345066221f5e4d24\">death toll increased<\/a><\/span> Tuesday as searches in multiple states continued. Survivors were looking for shelter and struggling to find running water, <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-voting-ballots-46a7fbecb44464409d796dd687d3cb9d\">electricity<\/a><\/span> and food. Others in the region are bracing for <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-voting-ballots-46a7fbecb44464409d796dd687d3cb9d\">barriers to voting<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The two confirmed dead at the Tennessee plastics factory are Mexican citizens, said Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director at Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. She said many of the victims\u2019 families have started online fundraisers to cover funeral costs and other expenses. <\/p>\n<p>Bertha Mendoza was with her sister when the flooding started, but they got separated, according to a eulogy on her GoFundMe page authored by her daughter-in-law, who declined an interview request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was loved dearly by her family, community, her church family, and co-workers,\u201d the eulogy read.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>AP journalists Rhonda Shafner and Beatrice Dupuy contributed from New York.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hurricane-helene-tennessee-f7c4a460de588df7a4d5bc9efa756ecb\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the rain from Hurricane Helene came down harder and harder, workers inside a plastics factory in rural Tennessee kept working. It wasn\u2019t until water flooded into the parking lot &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109587\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}