A family’s frantic race to save their mother when Helene floods a factory in Tennessee

A family’s frantic race to save their mother when Helene floods a factory in Tennessee

ERWIN, Tenn. – On the morning of September 27, Bertha Mendoza called her son Guillermo and urged him and his children to stay indoors because of the bad weather.

But soon Guillermo and his family were the ones concerned about Bertha and her sister Araceli – both of whom were working in a nearby factory when the remains of Hurricane Helene caused a flash flood.

Bertha and Araceli were two of 11 workers at the Impact Plastics plant swept away by the Nolichucky River flood. Five people, including Araceli, were rescued. Bertha and five others died. On Wednesday, the body of the last missing employee, 29-year-old Rosa Andrade, was found. Nearly all of the workers were Latino.

Guillermo Mendoza described his mother, Bertha Mendoza, in the photo, as the kind of person who, when he meets someone, gives him a hug and asks if he has eaten.

Guillermo Mendoza described his mother, Bertha Mendoza, in the photo, as the kind of person who, when he meets someone, gives him a hug and asks if he has eaten.

In the aftermath, the victims’ relatives and surviving workers have come forward to argue that the deaths of Bertha and others could have been prevented if they had been allowed to leave work earlier that day.

Impact Plastics CEO Gerald O’Connor has denied the company was discouraging employees from leaving. He said that workers were evacuated for at least 45 minutes before the full fury of the flood reached the industrial estate. Impact Plastics did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

The company is now central of a lawsuit from the family of another employee and an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Bertha’s family also plans to take legal action.

For Guillermo, that morning conversation was the last conversation he had with his mother. The following series of calls and texts between Guillermo and his family shared with NPR paint a poignant scene of family members desperately trying to reach their loved ones, but ultimately powerless against the force of Helene, which killed at least 230 people in six states, the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina.

Damage caused by flooding from Hurricane Helene is seen around the Impact Plastics factory on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

Damage caused by flooding from Hurricane Helene is seen around the Impact Plastics factory on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

Family members frantically called and texted when Bertha became stuck in the water

The rain and wind were brutal that morning. Just before noon, Guillermo’s sister Clarissa texted Bertha that Erwin police had declared a state of emergency.

About ten minutes later, Bertha responded with a single message: a video from the factory parking lot, showing a wave of muddy brown water. “Mom, be careful,” Clarissa wrote back in Spanish.

According to Greg Coleman, the family’s attorney, Clarissa spoke to Bertha on the phone some time later. Bertha told her daughter that cars were being swept away by the flood and that she did not know how to escape. Clarissa suggested meeting her mother on the nearby highway, but Bertha didn’t think she could cross the water.

Clarissa and other family members spent the next hour calling each other and discussing how to reach the factory as the water rose to dangerous levels. Clarissa called her mother three more times to check in, but Bertha did not answer, Coleman said.

By then, Guillermo had run out of his house and grabbed his children’s two life jackets—the only ones he had—along with a giant empty water jug ​​to use as a float. “I grabbed everything I could and got there as fast as I could, but a lot of roads were already closed,” he said.

Search and rescue personnel work in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

Search and rescue personnel work in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

A few minutes passed and Bertha finally started calling back some of her children and husband. She told them that her phone had become too wet and that she would no longer be able to call them. Bertha asked for prayers and told her family how much she loved them.

Meanwhile, Guillermo drove around looking for a way to reach the factory. But every path was blocked by rising water or roadblocks. Later, he spotted a search and rescue team and nervously waited for updates.

Guillermo saw a helicopter appear above his head. He saw two women being lifted from the flood below. “I thought for sure these were my aunt and my mother,” he said. Guillermo sprinted over as the helicopter landed. As he got closer, he saw his Aunt Araceli running towards him alone. “My aunt runs to me,” Guillermo recalled. “And she says, ‘I lost your mother.’”

“It was a mixed feeling because I was so excited to see my aunt, but so heartbroken because we don’t know anything about my mother at this point,” he said.

Guillermo’s aunt told him that she had become separated from Bertha while trying to stay afloat amid a rushing current. The Nolichucky River, which is typically about two feet deep, rose to over 30 feet that day. Bertha’s body was discovered two days later. On October 7, the Mendoza family held a funeral for her.

A person walks on Interstate 26 as debris covers the roadway in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

A person walks on Interstate 26 as debris covers the roadway in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 4 in Erwin, Tennessee.

Bertha Mendoza was remembered for her kindness

Bertha Mendoza was the kind of person who — from the moment you met her — pulled you into a hug and asked if you had eaten, Guillermo said.

He always admired his mother’s hospitality and her heart for immigrants who had no family in the US. “Mom and Dad always wanted to take them to dinners, at Christmas,” he said.

Originally from Mexico, Bertha moved to the U.S. with her children in 1998 to be closer to her husband Elias, who was a seasonal worker in eastern Tennessee. According to Guillermo, her second eldest son, they were among the first Spanish families to settle in Erwin.

As their four children grew older, Bertha started looking for work to help with the bills. She started working at the factory because she had only an elementary education in Mexico and it was one of the few places willing to hire people. She had worked at Impact Plastics for a number of years.

Bertha was known for her cooking skills, both among her family and in the city. She was especially excellent at making traditional Mexican dishes, including tres leches cake and tamales, and the drink horchata.

Ana Gutierrez, a staff member with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, lights a candle during a vigil for the victims of the Impact Plastics tragedy in Erwin, Tennessee, on October 3.

Ana Gutierrez, a staff member with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, lights a candle during a vigil for the victims of the Impact Plastics tragedy in Erwin, Tennessee, on October 3.

Several members of the Mendoza family have birthdays in September. It was Bertha’s 56th birthday. For the first time this year she suggested having one big party. Guillermo, a pastor at First Baptist Church of Erwin, recalled his mother going out of her way to cook dishes she normally reserves for Christmas.

Although Bertha’s death had made Guillermo question his faith, he likes to imagine that God gave his family one big party along with his mother.

“My mother is a gentle and kind soul. And I know she wouldn’t have wanted me to live with anger,” he said.

NPR’s Marisa Peñaloza contributed reporting.

Copyright 2024 NPR


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