ERWIN, Tenn. – Among the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and the countless stories of loss and hardship, one particular tragedy is under investigation after the deaths of several workers at a plastics company in East Tennessee.

Robert Jarvis, an employee at Impact Plastics in Erwin, is consumed by anger and frustration as he recalls the terrifying events of last week when several of his coworkers were swept away by floodwaters outside the plant. He recounts how he and his colleagues were forced to continue working despite the deteriorating weather conditions.

“We were all working and the power went out,” he told FOX 39 in Greeneville. “I got a text … from another employee saying that the parking lot was flooded.”

Panicked, he tried to move his car to higher ground, as the parking lot became submerged. Jarvis said there was only one way out – a narrow road that was quickly becoming blocked.

Jarvis said that despite his co-workers’ pleas to be allowed to leave, they were told to stay put as other employees were reportedly trapped in the floodwaters outside.

“We were in panic mode,” he said. “The water was coming up, and then we did what we had to survive. It was a guy in a 4x4 who came, picked a bunch of us up, and saved our lives, or we’d have been dead too.”

A company spokesperson confirmed to FOX Weather that only two of the seven people missing in the flood have been located, with their bodies being recovered earlier this week. A third body was located Thursday, county officials said.

“It hurts knowing that they didn’t make it, and I did,” Jarvis said. “It just doesn’t seem fair to me that they didn’t make it.”