Plastics company was slow to dismiss workers during Helene flooding, causing deaths, employee says

ERWIN, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - A plastics factory in Tennessee is under fire after some employees were trapped and killed there during flooding brought on by Hurricane Helene.

One Impact Plastics employee — Jacob Ingram — said lives could have been saved had employees been allowed to leave the facility sooner.

“I didn’t hear anyone say ‘leave’ or nothing like that. I actually asked one of the higher ups,” Ingram said. “They told me ‘No, not yet.’ They have to ask someone before we was able to leave, even though it was already above the doors and the cars and everything else.”

Ingram said he was swept away by floodwaters Friday, having to climb on top of a tractor-trailer to get to higher ground. That’s when he was rescued by a helicopter.

The worker said he and his fellow employees were together that day when Helene’s waters came through.

At least two of those employees were killed. Another six, and a contractor, are still missing, according to Impact Plastics.

The company released a statement following the tragedy. Its representatives said the company monitored weather conditions, dismissing employees when the facility lost power and water began to cover the parking lot.

Ingram said that isn’t what happened.

“No. The plant lost power, and we were still told not to go home or leave,” he told WVLT News. “We were still there 15 to 20 minutes after the plant lost power.”

The company said some employees left immediately, but others stayed behind for unknown reasons.

“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,” the company said in part in its statement. ”At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility. For employees who were non-English speaking, bilingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message.”

Impact Plastics said those who died and are missing were on top of a truck when the truck toppled over in the flooding.

Ron Kell, the owner of nearby R&R Manufacturing, said he went to Impact Plastics to help the rescue effort after he sent his own employees home.

“I was yelling at them to come; she was talking to her boss,” Kell said, remembering the day.

Impact Plastics has since said it’s organizing a recovery center for employees. One thing the company hasn’t done, Ingram said, is reach out.

“I haven’t heard a thing,” he said. “They haven’t reached out to make sure we are OK, nothing.”

Impact Plastics said senior management was the last to leave the building, adding that the company reached out to emergency responders to help rescue people.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” said Gerald O’Connor, who founded the company in Erwin in 1987, the company said in a statement. “Those who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.”

The two confirmed dead at the factory are Mexican citizens, Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director at Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said to the Associated Press.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed they are investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics.

As of Wednesday, more than 160 people have lost their lives in the storm.

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