By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
An emergency official revealed on Saturday evening that “life lost” has been reported in Tennessee, now the sixth state to face fatalities from Hurricane Helene, which impacted the Southeast and led to more than 50 deaths the previous week.
Jimmy Erwin, the head of emergency management in Unicoi County, Tennessee, was visibly emotional during a press briefing as he acknowledged that there had been casualties in the storm. He refrained from disclosing the number of deceased, while Erwin’s police chief, Regan Tilson, mentioned that no bodies had been retrieved thus far.
Erwin indicated that five or six individuals were still unaccounted for — a significant reduction from over 30 missing earlier in the day — and that search and rescue crews would continue their efforts along the Nolichucky River until dusk. They would resume their search at dawn.
“We didn’t expect to be in this situation today,” Erwin remarked. Numerous residents are lacking water and electricity, with some not expecting power to be restored for a week. He also noted the loss of the county’s water treatment facility, advising anyone with access to water to boil it before use. Shower facilities are being arranged at a local high school for residents to access.
Destruction was evident throughout the lush, hilly Appalachian county of 17,000, particularly in Erwin, where a Baptist church was surrounded by debris, and a mangled RV was situated in a parking lot strewn with wreckage. Downed trees obstructed a highway that runs through the town.
Cody Scott, a commissioner for Unicoi County, expressed that he had never witnessed flooding of this severity in the region. His brother visited their family farm on Friday afternoon and was taken aback by the damage.
“He couldn’t believe what he saw,” Scott shared. “It’s devastated the community.”
He mentioned that he and his family were assessing the loss of trucks, tractors, pumps, and other agricultural equipment, as well as evaluating how much farmland was submerged, but his primary concern was for his constituents who had lost their homes. He remained hopeful that those missing would be located soon.
“The longer it takes in any search and rescue effort, that’s not ideal,” he stated.
