Impact Plastics employee found dead after historic flooding in Tennessee

Knox News reported that Verdugo, along with at least 10 others, fled aboard a flatbed truck that was later struck by debris from the flood, plunging the evacuees into the water. Everyone on board was swept away, including Verdugo, but some were later rescued by a Tennessee National Guard helicopter.

Verdugo is the fourth person in this group to be confirmed dead, with two others missing. As of Oct. 6, at least 12 people in Tennessee have died as a result of Hurricane Helene and subsequent flooding, according to the state. Five of those deaths are from Unicoi County.

Impact Plastics is located in the Riverview Industrial Park, which has only one way in and out for employees: South Industrial Drive, which runs parallel to the Nolichucky River before dead-ending.

On Sept. 27, the factory manager at nearby Old Hickory Buildings, also on South Industrial Drive, took it upon himself to carve through the underbrush with a tractor so that employees from his company and Impact Plastics could climb a narrow gravel path We were just able to escape water for safety.