UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (WSMV) – In videos that have now become synonymous with the East Tennessee flooding, dozens of workers of Unicoi County Hospital are seen standing on the roof surrounded by rushing floodwaters.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan was asked why so many people felt they were caught off guard and became trapped by the floodwaters.
Related: TBI investigating allegations against Impact Plastics, agency confirms
“Those catastrophic flood warnings were issued in North Carolina primarily,” Sheehan said. “I think we’ll have time after the fact to look at where we could have improved communication and what kinds of things we could have done to improve warning and alerting.”
WSMV4 Investigates reviewed National Weather Service warning data to determine how soon people were told to evacuate.
On Sept 27, at 9:14, the NWS issued a flood warning, stating that people should move to higher ground.
According to tweets from Ballard Health, the owner …