One family’s frantic race to save their mother when Helen floods a factory in Tennessee

ERWIN, Tennessee. — On the morning of September 27, Berta Mendoza called her son Guillermo, urging him and his children to stay at home because of the bad weather.

But soon Guillermo and his family were the ones worrying about Bertha and her sister Araceli, both of whom worked in a nearby factory when the remains
Hurricane Helen triggered by a flash flood.

Bertha and Araceli were two of 11 workers at the Impact Plastics factory swept away by the overflowing Nolichucky River. Five people, including Araceli, managed to be saved. Berta and five others died. The body of the last missing employee, 29-year-old Rosa Andrade, was found on Wednesday. Almost all of the workers were Hispanic.

Victims’ family members and surviving employees spoke afterward, saying the deaths of Bertha and the others could have been prevented if they had been allowed to leave work earlier that day.

Impact Plastics CEO Gerald O’Connor denies the company has locked out employees who are staying.
He said that workers were evacuated at least 45 minutes before the flood reached the industrial park. Impact Plastics did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

The company is now in the center
lawsuit from the family of another employee and
investigation Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Bertha’s family also plans to go to court.

For Guillermo, that morning call was the last conversation with his mother. The following is a series of calls and texts between Guillermo and his family that were shared with NPR Picture a harrowing scene as relatives desperately try to reach their loved ones, only to find themselves powerless against the force of Helen, which killed at least 230 people in six states, the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina.

Family members frantically called and texted as Bertha was trapped by floodwaters

The rain and wind were relentless that morning. Shortly before noon, Guillermo’s sister, Clarissa, texted Bertie that the Erwin Police Department had declared a state of emergency.

About 10 minutes later, Bertha responded with a single message — a video from the plant’s parking lot showing a wave of murky brown water. “Mom, be careful,” Clarissa wrote in Spanish.

According to Greg Coleman, the family’s attorney, Clarissa spoke to Bertha on the phone a short time later. Bertha told her daughter that the flood was taking away the cars, and she did not know how to save herself. Clarissa offered to meet her mother at a nearby interstate, but Bertha didn’t think she could swim across the water.

Clarissa and the rest of the family spent the next hour frantically calling each other and discussing how to get to the factory as floodwaters rose to dangerous levels. Clarissa called her mother three more times to check in, but Bertha didn’t answer, Coleman said.

By then, Guillermo had rushed from his home, grabbing his children’s two life jackets — the only ones he had — along with a giant, empty water jug ​​used as a flotation device. “I just grabbed whatever I could and headed over there as fast as I could, but a lot of the roads were already closed,” he said.

A few minutes passed, and Bertha finally began to call some of her children and her husband back. She told them her phone had gotten too wet and she wouldn’t be able to call them again. Bertha asked for prayers and told her family how much she loved them.

Meanwhile, Guillermo drove around looking for a way to get to the factory. But every path was blocked by rising flood waters or roadblocks. He later spotted the search and rescue team and nervously waited for updates.

Guillermo saw a helicopter appear overhead. He watched as two women were lifted from the water. “I thought for sure it was my aunt and my mom,” he said. When the helicopter landed, Guillermo took off. When he got closer, he saw that Aunt Araceli was running towards him – alone. “My aunt runs to me,” Guillermo recalled. “And she says, ‘I lost your mom.'”

“It was a mixed feeling because I was so excited to see my aunt, but so heartbroken because we don’t know anything about my mom at the moment,” he said.

Guillermo’s aunt told him that she had become separated from Bertha while trying to stay afloat in the raging current. The Nolichucky River, which is normally about 2 feet deep, rose to more than
30 feet that day Bertha’s body was found two days later. On October 7, Mendoza’s family held her funeral.

Berta Mendoza was remembered for her kindness

“Berta Mendoza was the kind of person who, when you met her, would hug you and ask if you had eaten,” Guillermo said.

He always admired his mother’s hospitality and her heart for immigrants who did not have family in the United States. “Mum and Dad would always like to have them over for dinner at Christmas,” he said.

Originally from Mexico, Berta moved to the United States with her children in 1998 to be closer to her husband, Elias, who was a seasonal worker in east Tennessee. According to Guillermo, who is her second oldest son, they were among the first Hispanic families to settle in Erwin.

When their four children were grown, Bertha began looking for work to help with the bills. She went to work in a factory because she only had an elementary education in Mexico and it was one of the few places that wanted to hire her. She worked at Impact Plastics for several years.

Bertha was known for her cooking, both in her family and throughout the city. She was particularly good at traditional Mexican dishes, including tres leches and tamales, as well as horchata.

Many members of the Mendoza family celebrate birthdays in September. It was Bertha’s 56th birthday. For the first time this year, she suggested they throw one big party. Guillermo, a minister at First Baptist Church of Erwin, recalled his mother going above and beyond, preparing meals she would normally reserve for Christmas.

Although Bertha’s death has caused Guillermo to doubt his faith, he likes to imagine that God has gifted his family with one big holiday with his mother.

“My mother is a gentle and kind soul. And I know she wouldn’t want me to live with anger,” he said.

NPR’s Marisa Peñaloza contributed to this report.

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