Tennessee floods: 54 people stranded on Unicoi County Hospital roof rescued as water rose
(This report has been updated with new information)
Fifty-four people were rescued from the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital on Sept. 27 after flooding due to Tropical Storm Helene left them stranded.
Virginia State Police finished the rescue mission around 4:45 p.m., using two helicopters to rescue between 40 and 45 people, Virginia State Police spokesperson Matt Demlein told the USA TODAY Network. Other agencies involved in the rescue effort rescued the remaining patients and staff.
Unicoi County Sheriff Mike Hensley told Knox News he watched as helicopters from throughout the region descended on the roof after floodwaters rose so quickly authorities couldn't even get boats near the building.
“It was chaotic. We couldn’t get to them in boats, we had high winds and water rushing around the hospital. I thank God the hospital held. I was waiting for it to collapse,” Hensley said.
National Guard and state and local police helicopters from nearby Virginia and Tennessee, including crews from Knoxville in three Blackhawk helicopters, saved the patients. Those pulled off the roof are all receiving treatment at other regional facilities.
The Unicoi hospital will remain closed until further notice.
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"The major problem is trying to access some of these rural areas," Hensley told Knox News. "We're cut off from the south end of the county now. We're cut off from deputies on the south part who can't come back home. But that's a good thing they're there."
Erwin Police Department Lt. Patrick Bennet told Knox News couldn't hear anything except howling winds as he helped in the evacuation. The rising water took his breath away.
“Water was coming up so high, there was nothing we could do,” he told Knox News.
The morning started quietly before the force of the storm moved in, and conditions deteriorated within hours.
"(It looked) like a normal day. And it looked that way when I got here this morning,” he said. "It came up within just a matter of minutes. Once it started, it just kept rising and rising.”
Bennett said rescue teams evacuated the most critical patients first.
In the hours after the rescue, Unicoi County residents gathered near the hospital to take in the jaw-dropping scene of rushing water and floating debris. What now resembles a river, Unicoi County Clerk Patty Treadway told Knox News, used to be a pasture where neighbors saw the occasional horse.
"It's unbelievable," she said. "It's something I've never seen before, and I've lived here my whole life."
Ambulances could not reach the hospital due to the rapid flooding, so the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency got involved with local agencies to deploy rescue boats. However, water surrounding the hospital and seeping inside prevented the boats from safely being able to leave the hospital, Ballad said. Helicopters were also not able to safely evacuate the hospital due to high winds.
By 12:27 p.m., 54 people had to evacuate to the rooftop and seven were stranded in rescue boats.
"The hospital has been engulfed by extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water. The situation at the hospital is very dangerous and TEMA and National Guard resources are engaged in what can only be described as a dangerous rescue operation," Ballad wrote. "We ask everyone to please pray for the people at Unicoi County Hospital, the first responders on-scene, the military leaders who are actively working to help, and our state leaders."
EMS service shares Facetime video from Unicoi County Hospital rooftop
MedicOne Medical Response, an emergency rescue service, posted a Facetime recording with a former employee who was stranded on the hospital roof. The videos showed patients and staff on the roof of the hospital with water surrounding the building.
In another video, the first rescue helicopter arrived.
Where is Unicoi County Hospital?
Unicoi County Hospital is in Erwin, Tennessee, around 100 miles east of Knoxville and Pigeon Forge. The region saw intense flooding Friday as Tropical Storm Helene, downgraded from a hurricane, barreled through the Southeast, inflicting flooding and power outages across multiple states.
The downtown of Newport, a Tennessee city around 60 miles west, was also evacuated after a "catastrophic failure" of the Walters Dam near Waterville, North Carolina, on Friday.