ERWIN, Tenn. — On Friday, rescue teams in Tennessee announced the recovery of the last missing person’s body following the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Helene at a local plastics factory.
Rosa Andrade, 29, was among six employees who tragically lost their lives when they were unable to escape the quickly rising waters surrounding Impact Plastics, located in the small town of Erwin in East Tennessee. Surviving employees reported that they were not permitted to leave until floodwaters had already begun to overtake the parking lot and power outages ensued. Out of 11 individuals swept away, only five were eventually rescued.
Andrew Harris, the captain of Unicoi County Search and Rescue, confirmed that Andrade’s body was found on Wednesday, marking more than a month since the catastrophic flooding from the Nolichucky River occurred on September 27. On that fateful day, the river surged from its usual depth of 2 feet to an unprecedented 30 feet, with water flowing downstream at a staggering rate of 1.4 million gallons per second, which is double the flow rate of Niagara Falls.
Families of some of the victims have taken legal action against Impact Plastics and its owner, Gerald O’Connor. Among them is the family of Johnny Peterson, who recounted climbing onto the back of a semi-trailer that was trying to escape the flooding while managing to send messages to his loved ones before he was swept away.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the operations at Impact Plastics based on allegations directed by the local prosecutor. Additionally, the state’s workplace safety office has initiated an investigation to delve deeper into the events leading to the fatalities.
O’Connor has maintained that no employees were forced to continue working and that there was an evacuation conducted at least 45 minutes prior to the overwhelming flood’s impact on the industrial area.
The workers who lost their lives are part of a larger toll, with over 200 fatalities attributed to Hurricane Helene across isolated communities in the Appalachian region. This storm has been recognized as the deadliest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, leaving millions without electricity, disrupting cellular communications, and devastating local water systems.