Impact Plastics worker describes harrowing rescue from floodwaters as river overran Erwin plant
By Bill Brewer

Efraín Gómez Sr., left, is with his son, Efraín Gómez Jr., and Sister Esther Ordoñez, MAG. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“Don’t let go!”
And with that urgent plea, Efraín Gómez Sr. convinced his co-worker to keep clinging to plastic pipes floating in the rapidly rising Nolichucky River that had swept up nearly a dozen employees in the Erwin, Tenn., industrial park where Mr. Gómez worked.
The horrifying scene unfolded on Friday, Sept. 27, as Hurricane Helene blew northeastward after making landfall in the Florida panhandle.
With high winds and storm clouds ready to unload a record amount of rainfall, Helene battered the mountains of western North Carolina, which sent torrents of water rushing down mountain tributaries and into the Nolichucky, Doe, Pigeon, and French Broad rivers that flow through East Tennessee.
Mr. Gómez, an employee of Impact Plastics in Erwin and a member of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City, paid attention to the inclement weather on that Friday, and as the Nolichucky began to spill into the parking lot of his employer, he was worried his vehicle was at risk.
Mr. Gómez, accompanied by his son, Efraín Gómez Jr., took part in a counseling session for survivors and family members of people who died in the flooding and have been missing, which was held at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Oct. 2. Ministering to them were Father Tom Charters, GHM, associate pastor of St. Michael the Archangel, along with Sister Esther Ordoñez and Sister Maria Luisa Morales, both of whom are Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus “Ad Gentes,” and Blanca Primm, director of Hispanic ministry for the Diocese of Knoxville.
Members of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, an advocacy group, also participated in the counseling session, helping the family members of deceased and missing flood victims to get through the heartbreaking events wrought by Helene.
Bishop Mark Beckman also ministered to the group, praying with them and speaking to each person, extending his heartfelt concern and reassuring them that the Diocese of Knoxville will be with them during this difficult time.
Joining Bishop Beckman in meeting with the survivors and family members were Father David Boettner, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Deacon David Duhamel, executive director of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, and Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, a Religious Sister of Mercy and a physician.
Catholic Charities has been a lead disaster-relief agency for the flood-affected counties of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi, and Washington in East Tennessee.
Sister Mary Lisa is medical director of the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, a health-care ministry of the Diocese of Knoxville. The SMLC mobile medical clinic treated patients impacted by the disaster on Oct. 11 at St. Michael the Archangel and St. Anthony of Padua Church in Mountain City. The clinic volunteers its services.
Mr. Gómez Sr. noted that the flooding was first noticed in the Impact Plastics parking lot about 10 a.m.
“I went outside because the power went out,” Mr. Gómez said. “I was waiting for a while for the supervisors to tell us to leave. But they never came. I went to the cafeteria because that is where everyone meets when something happens. I had heard a noise in the parking lot and that’s when I saw the parking lot was flooding. Everyone was going to their cars.”
He explained that he went to retrieve his keys to move his vehicle to higher ground. That is when a co-worker called out to him to alert him to the quickly swelling river.
“Both of us went outside to see the flooding, and the water was rising. The supervisors never told us that we could leave,” Mr. Gómez said, noting that when he saw co-workers finally trying to exit the plant, he asked if they could leave and they said yes.
“But by this time, we could not get out. We could not escape. The water continued to rise, and I wanted to rescue my car. But I was not able to rescue my car,” he said.
As he described the situation, Mr. Gómez said plastic pipes made in the industrial park were beginning to float away. He gathered some personal items he had inside the plant, including his watch, a gold chain with the image of St. Jude, and a bracelet his daughter had given him.
“But I wasn’t able to go anywhere. I went with my co-workers and got on a trailer. I called the emergency line, but no one came to where we were. At around 1:30 p.m. the trailer began to tip over. When that happened, my co-worker Rosa fell into the river. She was the first one to fall into the river,” Mr. Gómez recalled, trying to restrain tears.
In a short amount of time, Mr. Gómez and co-workers went from watching water accumulate in the parking lot to floating in the rapidly rising, rapidly moving Nolichucky River, holding on for their lives.
“When the trailer was again about to tip over, my other co-worker, Lidia, was calling for me to help her grab on to the trailer,” he continued, explaining that he advised her to move closer to him because when the trailer tips over, it and the pipes loaded on the trailer could pull her under water.
“One of my co-workers was grabbing her, but when the trailer tipped over, it caused a wave that pushed her away, and the current took her away,” Mr. Gómez recalled. “We all fell and were being dragged into the river. We were now in the river. I had fallen from the pipes we were clinging to.”
“I said, ‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to drown,’” he added, describing how he was on top of the pipes loaded on the flatbed trailer when he fell into the river.
His co-workers Rosa and Lidia were still missing days after the tragic flood as recovery efforts continued.
As the urgency of the situation unfolded and his adrenaline kicked in, he was able to pull himself up out of the river and onto other plastic pipes.
“I don’t know how I got the strength to pull myself up. I climbed up again on the pipes; the pipes had lodged against debris in the river,” he said. “Me and two other ladies were still alive. I saw that there were only three of us.”
Five days after his rescue, Mr. Gómez vividly recalled the relief he felt when rescuers arrived after the three employees clung to life for hours in the river.
He feared they would not survive.
“I had called out to them to get on top. One of them could climb up and the other one said, ‘I can’t. I’m going to let go,’” Mr. Gómez remembered. “I told her ‘No! Don’t let go. Use all your inner strength to pull yourself up. Give me your hand.’ And I gave her my hand.”
Mr. Gómez’s chilling account had an unexpected conclusion.
“I couldn’t pull her up. And then at that moment, two military men (Tennessee National Guardsmen) came and helped me to raise her up, and we pulled her onto the pipes,” he said almost in disbelief as he relived that tragic day in his memory.
Mr. Gómez shook his head as he thought about the dozen co-workers in harm’s way. He wondered how half survived, and he lamented that half of them did not.
Impact Plastics founder Gerald O’Connor released a statement saying the company is saddened by the deaths of its employees. The company maintains that a decision was made on the morning of Sept. 27, once floodwaters were threatening the plant, to shut down the plant and evacuate the building. It further stated that to its knowledge, no one was trapped in the building or on its premises.
Mr. O’Connor said Impact Plastics is cooperating with investigations into the company by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Blanca Primm, center standing, director of Hispanic ministry for the Diocese of Knoxville, offers words of sympathy and understanding to Efraín Gómez Sr., sitting left, and his son, Efraín Gómez Jr., at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Erwin. Mr. Gómez Sr., an employee of Impact Plastics in Erwin, was swept away by floodwaters and miraculously survived. Also ministering to the Gómezes is Sister Esther Ordoñez, MAG, standing at left. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Sister Esther Ordoñez, MAG, described the events leading to the tragedy of Sept. 27 and how the Sisters and priests in the flood-impacted region are ministering to those in need.
“On Monday, Sept. 30, we learned that the torrential waters of Sept. 25, 26, and 27 had caused the rivers to overflow, taking away the bridges in some places here in the area of the Five Rivers Deanery. It filled us with anguish to think about what the workers who come from Mexico to work on the fields would be like at that moment, whom we see every seven days because we meet to celebrate holy Mass with them on Wednesday mornings,” Sister Esther said.
“The person in charge of them told us that they did not have electricity or drinking water, and that they were also isolated, like many residents who live in this area. The first thing that we as missionaries wanted was to bring them food and water. But we couldn’t find any path that would take us to the field on (highway) 107,” she continued. “Shortly after, the parishioners of St. Michael called us and told us that some workers were missing due to the rush of water from the river that overflowed and swept away the workers and that they were so sorry for what had happened. The parishioners said that the two factories of plastic parts in Erwin had been badly affected.”
That is when she and Sister Maria Luisa Morales, MAG, went into action ministering to families of flood victims and sharing their grief.
“From then on, we approached those who grieved to listen to the stories they told as if they wanted to hide how sad they were. This is how we arrived in the mornings and returned to pray in the afternoons. People turn to God in this desolation, seeking comfort from their sudden pain, losing their loved ones. At first, they didn’t open themselves to us because of their grief. But we continued to accompany them while giving them privacy and space to work through their feelings. We were sharing in their suffering,” Sister Esther said.
“No one caused the disaster. We knew what happened and the weather simply affected us a lot this time. The disaster was rather within the mourners who remained together in silence. The high school (Unicoi County High School), which was the location of the shelter for the victims, received food, water, clothing, footwear, and vaccines,” she noted. “In addition to the shelter itself, which was very helpful and very busy with all the volunteers, many also received vaccines. It was very nice to see the unity of the people with so much material and spiritual support. Father Tom (Charters), pastor of St. Michael, and his parishioners gave everything for the good of the victims. Following his invitation, we joined in praying the holy rosary.”