ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — Rescue workers in Tennessee said Friday they have recovered the body of the final person still missing after massive flooding from Hurricane Helene hit a plastics factory there.
Rosa Andrade, 29, was one of six employees killed after they were unable to escape the rising waters around Impact Plastics in Erwin, a small town in East Tennessee. Surviving workers have stated they were not allowed to leave until water had flooded the plant’s parking lot and the power went out. Eleven people were swept away and only five were rescued.
The captain of Unicoi County Search and Rescue, Andrew Harris, said emergency workers discovered Andrade’s body on Wednesday, more than a month after the Sept. 27 flood of the Nolichucky River.
Normally running 2 feet (61 centimeters) deep, the river rose to a record 30 feet (9.1 meters) that day, with more than 1.4 million gallons (5.3 million liters) of water running downstream each second — twice as much as Niagara Falls.
Relatives of some of those who were killed have sued Impact Plastics and its owner, Gerald O’Connor. They include the family of Johnny Peterson, who managed to climb onto a bed of a semi-trailer that was attempting to escape the area and send text messages to his family before being swept away.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing the allegations involving Impact Plastics at the direction of the local prosecutor. The state’s workplace safety office has also opened its own investigation into the circumstances behind the deaths.
O’Connor has said no employees were forced to keep working, and they were evacuated at least 45 minutes before the massive force of the flood hit the industrial park.
The workers who died were among the more than 200 people killed by Helene in remote towns throughout the Appalachians. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005. The storm also left millions without power, knocked out cellular service and destroyed drinking water systems.