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More than 50 patients and hospital staff were airlifted from a roof last Friday during a dramatic emergency evacuation at Unicoi hospital in Erwin, Tennessee in east Tennessee. Flash flooding from Hurricane Helene overwhelmed the area.
The storm effects of Hurricane Helene have felt far and wide in western North Carolina and east Tennessee.
Ballad Health, which oversees Unicoi hospital, posted on X, they received notice of a need to evacuate the hospital just after 9.30am on Friday, due to “unusually high and rising water from the Nolichucky River.”
Eleven patients were at the hospital when the evacuation efforts started, but while the hospital deployed ambulances, “the flooding of the property happened so quickly the ambulances could not safely approach the hospital," the company said.
Local authorities then pivoted and deployed boats for the evacuation, hospital officials said, but “unfortunately, the water around the hospital, which had also begun intruding inside the hospital, became extremely dangerous and impassable and prevented the boats from safely being able to evacuate”.
Even helicopters were having issues because of the high winds.
By early Friday afternoon, 54 people were stranded on the roof awaiting rescue, while seven were in rescue boats, hospital officials said.
Reports came in that “The hospital has been engulfed by extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water,” and “The situation at the hospital is very dangerous.”
As the hours passed, the situation grew dire.
“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.”
On social media, photos were being shared of the patients and hospital employees on the roof of the building, surrounded by water.
Erwin’s police chief, Regan Tilson, told WCYB, the local news station on Friday that no one had been injured in the flooding. The station also reported that several patrol cruisers and ambulances had been lost to the flood waters.
At 2.36pm, Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, who represents Tennessee’s first congressional district, said that helicopters had arrived and were evacuating the stranded people.
Evacuated patients were admitted to the hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee.
But by 4.17pm, Tennessee US Senator Bill Hagerty posted on X that the operation was a success.
“Everyone has been rescued safely from the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin. More trouble on the horizon for East Tennessee communities. Please stay safe and thank you for your prayers!” he posted.
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