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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.
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