Helicopters recovered 54 people from Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, Friday after floodwaters swollen by Hurricane Helene inundated the facility.
At 9:38 a.m., hospital operator Ballad Health heard from county officials that Nolichucky River was overflowing and that Unicoi had to evacuate. Ambulances couldn’t safely reach the hospital to pick up 11 patients. Boats were also unsafe due to high water, Ballad Health posted on X.
“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,” Unicoi County Sheriff Mike Hensley told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Helicopters were also deterred at first by the forceful wind, so the 54 people, including personnel and all patients, went to the hospital’s roof. An additional seven were kept safe in boats.
“It was just the grace of God we had an ample amount of people to move people up to the roof. And we were able to put the nonambulatory patients in the boats and keep them safe and have medical personnel with the patients in the boats as well. And we kind of had them in a corner, protected by a couple of walls,” Unicoi County Hospital Administrator Jennifer Harrah told Johnson City CBS/ABC affiliate WJHL-TV.
Eventually, the Virginia State Police and the National Guard joined Ballad Health in airlifting more people off the roof, according to The Associated Press.
“We all let out a yeehaw when we saw the helicopter coming,” Lora Clark, who does lab work at the hospital, told the Johnson City Press.
By 4:40 p.m., everyone at the facility had been safely evacuated, with patients sent to Johnson City Medical Center.
Ballad Health officials believe that Unicoi, which opened in 2018, isn’t salvageable.
“I mean to me it looks like it will be gone. … The water came up so high, I’m not sure how the building could withstand that,” Ms. Harrah said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has declared a state of emergency due to flooding in multiple parts of the state.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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