Updated: Workers at Impact Plastics Perish in Flash FloodUpdated: Workers at Impact Plastics Perish in Flash Flood

Several employees at Impact Plastics are dead or missing after a flash flood caused by Hurricane Helene raced through Erwin, TN, where the injection molding plant is located, numerous media outlets are reporting. The tragedy occurred on Friday, Sept. 27.

A worker at the plant told the Knoxville News Sentinel that managers told employees to move their cars away from the rising water but were not allowed to leave. “They should’ve evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot,” he said to the newspaper. “When we moved our cars, we should’ve evacuated then … we asked them if we should evacuate, and they told us not yet, it wasn’t bad enough. And by the time it was bad enough, it was too late — unless you had a four-wheel drive,” he said, as reported by the Guardian.

Impact Plastics responded in a statement saying that as 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, bilingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message, the company said.

Several of the missing reportedly are immigrants.

The company added that some employees left the Riverview Industrial Park in a truck owned by a neighboring company and driven by an employee of the other company. Other Impact Plastics employees reportedly left by taking a railroad track behind the plant because of high waters that had entered the front of the facility.

Senior management and some assistants reportedly stayed at the plant to preserve company records, assess damage to the building, and oversee the departure of employees. Those employees were the last to leave the building, according to Impact Plastics.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that 11 people were swept away last Friday, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead and four others from the factory are still missing, according to AP in an article updated on Oct. 2.

AP also reported that Tennessee state authorities have launched an investigation of Impact Plastics. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Leslie Earhart told AP that the agency is investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics at the direction of the local prosecutor.

Impact Plastics founder and President Gerald O’Connor released a video statement, embedded below, in which he says that the company will fully cooperate with the investigation.