Helene floodwaters have trapped employees at the Tennessee plastics factory, and some are among the missing and dead

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” said Gerald O’Connor, who founded the company in 1987, according to the release.

“At no time were employees informed that they would be fired if they left the facility. For employees who did not speak English, bilingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message,” the company said.

The company’s press release said there was heavy rainfall on Friday morning, but that it eased as the morning progressed. However, employees were laid off when water covered the parking lot and adjacent street and the facility lost power.

President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Tennessee.

Another woman named Guadalupe Hernandez Corona said she was looking for her sister, Monica Hernandez.

“She said they were at the factory,” Hernandez Corona told the station, “and they were up on the trailer saying goodbye and telling us to call 911 and pray for them.”

An immigration group working with some families called for better services for immigrants during times of disaster. In a news release, the group, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said its staff has witnessed people being unable to receive interpreter services from local and state government agencies and that some immigrant family members have been asked to provide identification, which is “their Search disabled people”. missing loved ones.”

Hurricane Helene killed more than 120 people and has left a trail of destruction ever since As a Category 4 storm made landfall in Florida on Thursday.

It devastated entire communities, causing flooding rains in mountain towns in North Carolina and cutting off some residents from food, water and electricity as it tore roads out of their communities.