UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. — An Erwin man said he is hurting physically and emotionally after he nearly died on the job Friday during "never before seen" flooding that devastated Unicoi County and other parts of East Tennessee.
Three people are dead and 7 people are still missing in Unicoi County as of Tuesday evening, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency's Tuesday night update.
Impact Plastics, a plant in Erwin, was overtaken by the flooding on Friday. The company said Monday that some employees were either missing or dead. State officials said Tuesday they have not positively identified the victims they've found and are unsure if they were employees at the plant.
According to the plant, the employees were dismissed when floodwaters started to cover the parking lot and service road. The company said most employees left immediately, but "some remained on or near the premises for unknown reasons." The company also said it was "devastated by the tragic loss of great employees."
An employee who survived, Jacob Ingram, said the company's statement wasn't totally accurate. He said he only had 15 minutes from when he and his coworkers were told to leave before floodwaters began to rise.
Jacob said they tried to get to higher ground as floodwaters rapidly rose up to them. He said he held on to a semi-truck for dear life for hours before they used rolls of plastic gas piping as a life preserver.
Ingram survived, but he is now trying to figure out his unemployment situation since Impact Plastics was badly damaged by flooding.
Ingram's cousin, Jamie Davis, said the three hours between when she waited to find out if he was OK were horrible.
Many of Ingram's co-workers only spoke Spanish. One of those coworkers was Rosa Maria Andrade Reynoso, who was still missing several days later.
Davis was in tears about their fate, saying she was at least thankful her cousin and others spoke up to ensure people knew about them.
"I don't think if my cousin and his non-Hispanic coworkers would have said anything, they would have got any recognition," she said.
Ingram said his wounds will heal and he'll find new work, but he won't forget the people he worked with.
"I'll remember their faces forever. I remember their names forever. It's going to be hard to try to... it's going to be hard to try to forget," Ingram said.