Employees forced to work at a Tennessee plastics factory are recounting the day historic flooding took over their parking lot and caused the power to go out. Once the plant shut down, and they were sent home, several of the workers did not make it. Floodwaters swept 11 people away, and only five were rescued. Two of them are confirmed dead and part of the death toll across the affected states that passed 150 Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.
They should’ve evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot,' Ingram said to the Knoxville News Sentinel. 'We asked them if we should evacuate, and they told us not yet, it wasn’t bad enough.' The two confirmed dead at the Tennessee plastics factory are Mexican citizens, Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director at Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition told the AP.
For employees who were non-English speaking, bi-lingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message,' Impact Plastics statement read. The Associated Press contributed to this report.