NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It has been a week and a half since catastrophic flooding swept through portions of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, leaving communities devastated in its wake. The bodies of nine people who were swept away by floodwaters caused by Hurricane Helene were recovered in Unicoi County.
Five of the victims were employees of Impact Plastics, a company now under investigation for how it handled its workers during the disaster. One employee remains missing, and recovery efforts are ongoing.
Many of the workers at Impact Plastics do not speak English, raising concerns about how well immigrant employees were informed and protected during the flooding.
“We noticed immediately the lack of language services as well as cultural understanding and outreach to the diverse communities that call Tennessee home,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).
Luna said TIRRC has sent staff to Unicoi County to act as a liaison between local government and Spanish-speaking families. One of those families is that of Guillermo Mendoza, whose mother was among the Impact Plastics employees swept away by the floodwaters.
“I lost my mother, grandmother of my children. My father lost his wife of 38 years. We are not okay,” Mendoza said.
TIRRC is assisting families like the Mendozas, providing support as they search for missing loved ones and cope with the tragedy.
“The community has stepped up, and there’s been a beautiful outpouring of support locally, from the mayor and other officials, in helping those families,” Luna said. “But the flooding in East Tennessee isn’t the first time we’ve seen a lack of services for the immigrant population.”
Luna recalled last year, TIRRC had to respond to similar challenges during the devastating tornado in Nashville. With the Hispanic population in Tennessee growing rapidly, Luna emphasized the need for more multilingual warnings before severe weather, as well as increased outreach to under-resourced areas.
“It’s critically important that our state and local government agencies develop disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts that meet the needs of our diverse population,” she said.
TIRRC plans to release a list of policy recommendations to better prepare state and local governments to assist immigrant communities in future disasters.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at aaron.cantrell@newschannel5.com
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