Timeline of a tragedy
Erwin, a town of 6,000 people in Unicoi County, is part of the Tri-Cities region in Northeast Tennessee. Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26, 2024 and moved northeastward, causing catastrophic damage throughout the North Carolina mountains and parts of East Tennessee. The unprecedented flooding was reckoned to be the worst in the area’s history, hundreds of thousands of people were stranded for weeks without basic utilities, and entire communities that had stood for generations were wiped from the map.
On Sept. 27, as much as 31 inches of rain fell in the North Carolina mountains surrounding Asheville. The vast quantities of water roared downhill into the Tennessee Valley, causing the French Broad, Pigeon, and Nolichucky rivers to overflow their banks. The trio of swollen rivers poured an estimated 182 billion gallons into Douglas Lake, which rose more than 21 feet, according to TVA officials.
The Impact Plastics factory was located on South Industrial Drive, which runs along I-26 near the Nolichucky River.
TOSHA’s report gave the following timeline of events as reconstructed by its investigators:
On Sept. 27, flash flood warnings were issued for Unicoi County, but employees arriving at Impact Plastics, Inc. that morning saw no immediate signs of flooding.
By 10 a.m., water began accumulating in the parking lot, and employees were directed—either by management or coworkers—to move their vehicles to higher ground.
At 10:39 a.m., the site lost power, and by 10:51 a.m., employees were reportedly told they could leave, though accounts of this directive varied.
Some employees successfully evacuated by vehicle or on foot, using makeshift routes created by nearby businesses, while others remained on South Industrial Drive.
By 12:18 p.m., the last known evacuees left, and flooding rapidly intensified, with vehicles floating away by 12:23 p.m.
At 1 p.m., floodwaters caused a semi-truck parked on South Industrial Drive to jackknife, with stranded individuals on its flatbed trailer, clinging to large spools.
By 1:41 p.m., the semi-truck and trailer collided with a tree, dislodging large spools of pipe; individuals clung to these as they were swept away.
Six of those individuals were rescued after being carried a half-mile downstream, while six others—including five Impact Plastics employees and one independent pendent contractor— perished.
"Because work operations had stopped and employees had left the building, TOSHA has concluded the tragic deaths of the Impact Plastics employees were not work-related and therefore do not fall within its jurisdiction,” TOSHA said.
No citations were issued against the company.
Lawyer: TOSHA ignored evidence
TOSHA claimed it interviewed workers, reviewed video, audio, and electronic recordings, and examined other evidence including reports from the National Weather Service, news stories, and documents from the company itself to reach its conclusions.
The agency, however, also noted that there were numerous holes in its fact-finding efforts that meant an unknown amount of potentially relevant information couldn’t be obtained by investigators.
For instance, “due to the circumstances of the event, much of the documentation and information maintained by Impact Plastics, Inc. related to workplace safety and health was destroyed or lost due to flooding,” the report stated.
“Communication with individuals related to the event was challenging, potentially related to cellular phone service and electrical system interruption experienced by the region after flooding, loss or change of cellular phones, and language barriers. Efforts to contact individuals related to the event have included: attempting to contact persons by phone, electronic mail, postal mail, and requests by word-of-mouth for persons to contact Tennessee OSHA,” the report said.
TOSHA investigators also reportedly tried without success to locate witnesses and several employees who were “at or near the” site that day.
Also, TOSHA said its investigators tried to work with attorneys hired by several employees or their relatives but they “did not return communication or ceased communication with Tennessee OSHA. These employees were unable to be interviewed.”
In the days following the tragedy, some employees said publicly they had been forbidden to stop work until the floodwaters had grown too deep for them to safely escape.
Zack Lawson, a lawyer representing the family of one of the deceased victims, issued a statement Thursday saying: “TOSHA's report ignores multiple witnesses’ testimonies, critical text messages, emergency alert logs and photographic evidence that tell the real story about Impact Plastics' fatal failures. We're grateful that in America, juries − not bureaucrats citing unnamed sources − will decide the truth based on all the evidence.”
Stephen Ross Johnson, a lawyer who is currently representing both Impact Plastics and its founder, Gerald O’Connor, provided a statement in which he said TOSHA’s report was welcomed by company officials.
“These past months, Impact Plastics and its President and Founder, Gerald O’Connor, have cooperated with the official agencies investigating the flood and events of that day,” he said.
“The facts and the truth are now known …. Critically, and contrary to what was reported by some in the media, Tennessee OSHA ‘found no evidence that employees were threatened with termination or forced to work beyond a safe evacuation point’,” Johnson continued.
“Impact Plastics and Gerald O’Connor continue to concentrate on seeing to the needs of members of the Impact Plastics family and grieving over the wonderful people who were lost in the flood. Mr. O’Connor is focused on rebuilding Impact Plastics for the benefit of the employees, the customers, and the community.”
He concluded: “Impact Plastics intends to continue to play a vital role in Erwin’s flood recovery."
It’s still unclear what the future holds for many communities devastated by the hurricane. It is believed that 249 people lost their lives, and officials estimate the storm caused nearly $80 billion in damage.
TOSHA, which investigates work-related accidents, is part of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.