Factory workers in Tennessee have spoken out about their terrifying experience as Hurricane Helene turned their workplace into a destructive river.
After floodwaters took hold, 11 of the employees were swept away.
Two of them have been confirmed dead, as the New York Post reports that four of the staff members remain unaccounted for.
Employees of Impact Plastics have now spoken out - stating that they should have been allowed to go home far sooner than bosses let them.
"We were all talking to the supervisors and telling everybody, ‘Look, we don’t need to be here,'" employee Zinna Adkins recalled to WJHL. "Our phone alerts were saying we need to flee the areas. And they never said anything about it. And supervisors didn’t tell us that we could go."
Adkins did add that although nobody outright said that the employees couldn't go home, they weren't explicitly told to leave.
However, another employee - Robert Jarvis - has told WCYB that he was told he was not allowed to leave, despite receiving a text message warning him that the parking lot was flooding.
Jarvis said that after he had alerted a supervisor about the situation and asked what he should do, he was told to move his car to higher ground.
"It was still underwater, there was no dry ground in the parking lot," he said.
When he returned from the parking lot, Jarvis asked if the workers could leave, to which he was told by the supervisor: "No. Not until I speak with Gerry."
WSWS reports that the female supervisor was referring to Impact Plastics founder and CEO Gerald O’Connor.
Ten minutes later, the workers were told that they could leave. However, Jarvis said it was "just too late" by this point. "There was no way out," he said.
The Post reports that while some workers did manage to drive away, others got caught on a clogged road where floodwaters were so deep and powerful that cars were being swept away.
Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the plastics factory, took to Facebook to share videos he had recorded showing himself and four others waiting for rescue as vehicles floated by. "So I was working at [Impact Plastics] when the storm hit yesterday and me and 11 others got trapped on the back of a semi," he wrote alongside the videos."Just wanna say im lucky to be alive and i hope all the other i was with are okay [sic]."
In a statement to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Ingram later said his bosses "should’ve evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot."
"We asked them if we should evacuate, and they told us not yet, it wasn’t bad enough," he added.
Speaking of his own rescue, Jarvis revealed: "A guy in a 4×4 came, picked a bunch of us up and saved our lives, or we’d have been dead, too."
Impact Plastics have since released a statement disputing circulating claims and responding to the news that two of its employees have been reported dead.
"We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees," Gerald O’Connor said in the release. "Those who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers."
The company says it had been monitoring weather conditions on Friday morning and that employees were dismissed and told to go home when the factory lost power.
"At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility," the statement says. "For employees who were non-English speaking, bi-lingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message."
The full press release can be read at the bottom of this article.
However, Ingram has disputed the company's statement telling WVLT News: "No. The plant lost power, and we were still not to go home or leave [...] We were still there 15 to 20 minutes after the plant lost power."
Jarvis also responded to the company's statement, saying that his response was, "anger, hurt... it was lies."
WSWS has reported that employees Bertha Mendoza and Johnny Peterson are the two workers have been confirmed to have died.
Monican Hernandez and Sibrina Barnett are among the missing, with the names of the remaining two missing workers not yet known.
Our thoughts go out to everybody impacted by this tragic storm. Please do everything you can to stay safe.
Here is the full statement from Impact Plastics:
"We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” said Gerald O’Connor, who founded the company in Erwin in 1987. “Those who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.”"Impact Plastics, is located in the Riverview Industrial Park. On the morning of September 27th rainfall had been intense the previous night, but subsided as the morning went on."The company continued to monitor weather conditions. When water began to cover the parking lot and the adjacent service road, and the plant lost power, employees were dismissed by management to return to their homes in time for them to escape the industrial park. At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility. For employees who were non-English speaking, bi-lingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message."While most employees left immediately, some remained on or near the premises for unknown reasons. Senior management and assistants remained to oversee employee departures, assess damage and preserve company records. They were the last to exit the building."As flooding escalated, some employees left the industrial park using a truck owned by a neighboring company and driven by a driver employed by that company. Others departed by the CSX railroad track behind the facility due to the high waters at the front door and coming into the building. Due to the quickly rising water the truck tipped over and five employees and a contractor aboard the truck went missing. 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."Senior management sought emergency responders to attempt further rescue of employees. A National Guard helicopter was subsequently dispatched that rescued five employees who were airlifted to safety."A recovery center is currently being organized to aid current Impact Plastic employees and provide additional information on their benefits and local job opportunities. These employees will be alerted to when and where the facility will be open soon."The company plans to reopen its operation in the future."Impact Plastics remains committed to assisting its employees and help them connect to available resources after the devastating [SIC] effects of the horrific floods that occurred on September 27, 2024."
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