Impact Plastics CEO: ‘There was time to escape'

Impact Plastics Inc. founder Gerald O'Connor said employees had enough time to escape the industrial park swallowed by a deadly flash flood after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused the Nolichucky River to spill over on Sept. 27.

The president and CEO released a video update on Oct. 4 about the company's preliminary report and he expressed condolences to the families of six missing or dead workers, including one he had worked with for 30 years.

"Due to death threats against me and my family and to reduce the stress on local law enforcement that now needs to be focused on recovery operations, I'm with you by this video," O'Connor said.

The founder of the 37-year-old injection molding company said he ordered an immediate review of the events and a time line of when things happened.

"Employees were told to leave the plant at least 45 minutes before the gigantic force of the flood hit the industrial park. There was time to escape. Employees were not told at any time that they would be fired," O'Connor said.

Water began to pool in the parking lot about 10:35 a.m. and the facility, which is in a low-lying area, lost power at 10:39 a.m.

"A decision was made within minutes of the power outage to shut the plant down and dismiss all employees including supervisors. Employees were directed to leave the plant property within minutes of the power outage and certainly no later than 10:50 a.m.," the preliminary review says. "Bilingual employees translated the announcement in Spanish. Senior management conducted a walkthrough of the facility and attempted to move the company's server and other important documents. They exited the building around 11:35 and were the last individuals to leave."

When employees were dismissed, about six inches of water had pooled in the parking lot, but the service drive "appears to have been passable," according to the company's review.

In the video, O'Connor said he could "luckily escape" about an hour later. He added that the National Guard rescued five employees by helicopter.

"To our knowledge no one perished while on company property," O'Connor said. "My company will cooperate fully with the inquiries from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Occupation and Health Administration."

But at least two Impact Plastics employees and Ron Kell, the general manager of the company next door, Old Hickory Buildings, disputed the Impact Plastics findings.

Old Hickory reportedly closed at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 27 in response to emergency alerts from the National Weather Service and another business in the industrial park, Foam Products Corp., did not open at all that day because of the dire forecast.

Kell told local media he used one his company's tractors to try to clear a path through trees and brush for Impact Plastics employees to escape as the industrial park road filled with water and debris.

"I was saving all his employees, or we were you know just doing what we had to do," Kell told local television station WBIR. "They were left for me and plus my employees were stuck behind his employees."

Two state agencies have launched investigations into what happened.

In the meantime, in the coming days, O'Connor said his focus is on his employees.

"Thank you for your hard work as we all try to recover from this tragedy," he said.

O'Connor also looked ahead to resuming operations.

"I fell in love with Erwin and the people back in 1987 as a home for Impact Plastics. My plan is to build back our business in this town that I love as quickly as we can and offer good jobs again to the people who live there," O'Connor said.