11 workers at a Tennessee factory were swept away by flooding from Hurricane Helene. Only 5 were saved

As the rain from Hurricane Helene continued to fall, workers at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee continued to work. It wasn’t until water flooded the parking lot and the power went out that the plant shut down and sent workers home.

Several never made it.

Raging floods swept away 11 people and only five were saved. Two of them are confirmed dead and part of the death toll in the affected states, which exceeded 150 on Tuesday.

Four others are still unaccounted for after they washed up Friday in the small town of Erwin, Tenn., where dozens of people were rescued from the roof of a hospital.

Some workers were able to leave the factory, while others were trapped on a clogged road where the water rose enough to sweep away vehicles. The videos show brown flooding from the adjacent Nolichucky River covering the nearby highway and knocking on the doors of Impact Plastics.

Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the plastics factory, filmed himself and four others waiting for rescue as the vehicles floated away. He later posted the videos on Facebook with the caption: “I just want to say I’m lucky to be alive.” Videos of the helicopter rescue were posted on social media later Saturday.

In one video, Ingram can be seen looking down at the camera as a green Tennessee National Guard helicopter hovers above him, picking up one of the other survivors. In another, a soldier can be seen trampling the next evacuee in a harness.

Impact Plastics said in a statement Monday that it “continued to monitor weather conditions” on Friday and that managers laid off employees “when water began to cover the parking lot and adjacent service road and the plant lost power.”

In interviews with local news outlets, two of the workers who walked out of the facility disputed those claims. One told News 5 WCYB that employees were made to wait until it was “too late.” Another, Ingram, made a similar statement to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

“They should have evacuated when we got the flood warnings and when they saw the parking lot,” Ingram said. “We asked them if we should evacuate and they said it wasn’t bad enough.”

Worker Robert Jarvis told News 5 WCYB the company should have let them go sooner.

Jarvis said he tried to leave in his car, but the water on the main road became too high and only all-terrain vehicles were finding ways out of the flood zone.

“The water was coming,” he said. “A guy in a 4×4 came and picked a few of us up and saved our lives, otherwise we would have died too.”

The 11 workers found temporary respite on the back of a truck driven by a bystander, but it overturned shortly after debris hit it, Ingram said.

Ingram said he survived by grabbing onto plastic pipes that were on the truck. He said he and four others floated about half a mile (about 800 meters) before finding safety on a solid pile of debris.

Impact Plastic said Tuesday it had no update.

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

The death toll from Hurricane Helene rose Tuesday as multi-state searches continued. Survivors sought shelter and struggled to find running water, electricity and food. Others in the region are bracing for barriers to voting.

The two confirmed dead at the Tennessee plastics plant are Mexican nationals, said Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. She said many of the victims’ families have started online fundraisers to cover funeral costs and other expenses.

Bertha Mendoza was with her sister when the flooding began, but they were separated, according to a eulogy on her GoFundMe page written by her daughter-in-law, who declined an interview request.

“She was dearly loved by her family, community, church family and colleagues,” the eulogy read.

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AP reporters Rhonda Shafner and Beatrice Dupuy contributed from New York.