With the Tennessee Dam at risk, evacuations are ordered

More than 50 people were rescued from a hospital in eastern Tennessee on Friday due to rapidly rising waters and strong winds, Ballad Health officials said.

The strong winds and water levels prevented helicopter crews from transporting patients and staff from Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, hospital officials said.

Unicoi County Emergency Medical Services Director Adam Copas said some first responders were trapped with patients in the hospital and were able to help them get to the roof, where Tennessee Army National Guard and Virginia State Police helicopter crews pulled them out of harm’s way would have.

“It was organized chaos, but there was a plan and we implemented it and carried out the rescue the way it should have been done and as safely as possible,” Copas told NBC News’ Tom Llamas.

Read the full story here.

Laura Brafford, a Clearwater resident, spoke with NBC News’ Tom Llamas about the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene on her home, which was flooded with four feet of water.

Brafford, her husband and two children evacuated their home before the storm and say the damage was devastating.

She said they took extra precautions after Hurricane Idalia hit their home and installed flood gates.

“We felt we had done what we could to mitigate that compared to what we had achieved with Idalia. But in the end, this far exceeded what we had experienced in this storm and it was definitely shocking,” she said.

Brafford said she learned to never let her guard down during storms, saying, “Safety comes first and any inconvenience during evacuation comes second.”