Couple killed trying to flee flooding when water swamps their car, neighbors say

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - A Tennessee couple killed in flooding caused by Helene were trying to evacuate when water overwhelmed their car, neighbors say.

Two different surges of water on Friday proved to be dangerous for people across East Tennessee. The first came at 3 p.m. in downtown Newport, forcing a lot of people to evacuate. The second came after midnight Saturday.

It was this second surge of water that proved deadly for Mike and Jean Obrist as water quickly rushed to homes in Cocke County, WVLT reports.

Neighbors said the couple tried to evacuate as water came rushing toward their home. They, along with their daughter, tried getting in a car and driving away.

“Within moments of them trying to escape, the water was above the car,” said neighbor and Cocke County Rescue Squad member Gene Poland.

Poland says the Obrists’ daughter was able to make it out of the car and escape, but unfortunately, the couple weren’t able to make it out in time. Neighbor Eric Turner found them dead hours after the flooding subsided Saturday morning.

“I hoped to find him hanging in a tree, still alive and hollering, ‘Get me down. Get the ladder,’ something, not the tragedy that we found,” Turner said.

Neighbors say the Obrists had moved to East Tennessee from Alaska, were independent and lived off their own land. They described the loss of the couple as a tragedy and urge people moving forward to take every precaution necessary when officials ask them to evacuate.

“They always had a friendly face, always a smile,” Turner said. “This is like a million-year flood because you can’t bring them back now.”

The flooding incidents were caused by two different dams taking on more water than they were equipped to handle.

The Obrists were among eight reported storm-related deaths in the state, as of Monday. The Tennessee Department of Health has reported six other deaths: one in Knox County, three in Unicoi County, one in Johnson County and one in Washington County.

In addition, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said 100 people were still missing as of Monday afternoon.

Copyright 2024 WVLT via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.