The southeastern United States is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene.

A group of families in Tennessee are feeling the pain and frustration even more acutely after their loved ones were told they had no choice but to come to work in dangerous conditions. Now the employees are missing and everyone is wondering why they had to go to work in the first place.

Employees at a plastics company in Erwin, Tennessee, were told they had to come to work during Hurricane Helene or they would be fired.

Erwin, Tennessee is a small town of approximately 6,000 residents in Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee. In addition to its small population, it is also home to Impact Plastics, a factory that claims to be “at the forefront of plastics innovation.”

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Impact Plastics appears to be a small company, with only 17 employees connected to the company page on LinkedIn. It’s understandable that a small business might feel extra pressure at the thought of having to slow or even stop production for a few days due to a storm.

However, that does not give a company the right to act the way Impact Plastics did.

A post in the Facebook group “Missing people in Eastern TN and Western NC due to flooding” featured a post by Teresa Perez.

Perez shared screenshots of social media posts made by family members and friends of the missing Impact Plastics people. There were nine screenshots in total.

Naturally, many people who came across the post wondered how so many people could disappear from a company, even in such turbulent weather.

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One Facebook user, Tammy Sandlin Perez, asked, “Why are so many missing in this place? Why didn’t they let them go home when a storm came?”

Another user, Sarah Klase Richardson, responded: “They were told they would be fired if they left early.”

Although this information has not been confirmed by any official source, another person on Facebook, Chrissylynn Meissner, confirmed the report. “The people’s family members say they were forced to stay until the water was waist deep and then the truck got caught in the current,” she said.

Based on another comment from Marci Kaye, Meissner appeared to be referring to a “flatbed truck” that the National Guard used to try to rescue the employees.

Local news stations tried to get to the bottom of the situation.

Local news provider WJHL 11 reported the number of missing people in Unicoi County, which they believe is at 73.

“Over 25 agencies are working with the task force established at Unicoi County Middle School to help clear debris and locate those still missing,” WJHL said.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Erwin told WJHL, “We probably have over 100 people doing searches at the I-26 industrial park right now, but there are such large piles of debris that this is going to happen. “It can be very lengthy and we have to be very careful during our procedure.”

Impact Plastics is based in the industrial park. WJHL could not reach the company for comment.

There are actually no laws for or against allowing employees to work in such dangerous conditions.

While there are certain protections for employees to avoid working in dangerous situations, such as OSHA or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, guidelines for inclement weather are unclear at best.

According to Axcet HR Solutions, “You can legally insist that your team report to work.” However, they also recognized that it is important for employers to “value the well-being and safety of each individual employee.”

Yes, it was technically legal for Impact Plastics to require its employees to come to work, even during a storm. However, this could cause significant legal problems for the company as those who have lost loved ones will likely sue, which is their right.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango covering entertainment, news, and human interest topics.