One family’s frantic race to save their mother after Helen floods a Tennessee factory.

ERWIN, Tennessee. On the morning of September 27, Bertha Mendoza called her son Guillermo, urging him and his children to stay home because of the bad weather.

But Guillermo and his family soon began to worry about Berta and her sister Araceli, who both worked in a nearby factory when the leftovers Hurricane Helen triggered a flash flood.

Berta and Araceli were two of 11 workers at the Impact Plastics plant who were washed away by the Nolichaki River flood. Five people, including Araceli, were rescued. Bertha and five other people died. The body of the latest missing employee, 29-year-old Rosa Andrade, was found Wednesday. Almost all of the workers were Hispanic.

Afterwards, family members of the victims and surviving employees said that the deaths of Bertha and others could have been prevented if they had been allowed to leave work earlier in the day.

Impact Plastics CEO Gerald O’Connor denies the company did not allow employees to quit. He said that employees were evacuated at least 45 minutes before violent flooding reached the industrial park. Impact Plastics did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

The company is now in the center claim from the family of another employee and investigation Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Bertha’s family also plans to file a lawsuit.

For Guillermo, that morning call was the last conversation with his mother. The following is a series of calls and messages between Guillermo and his family, shared by NPR. paint a heartbreaking scene as relatives desperately try to contact their loved ones but ultimately find themselves powerless against the power of Helen, which has killed at least 230 people in six states, the deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland since Katrina.

Family members frantically called and texted as Bertha became trapped in floodwaters.

That morning the rain and wind were merciless. Just before noon, Guillermo’s sister Clarissa texted Bertha that the Erwin Police Department had declared a state of emergency.

About 10 minutes later, Bertha responded with a single message—a video from the factory parking lot showing a wave of murky brown water. “Mom, be careful,” Clarissa replied in Spanish.

According to Greg Coleman, the family’s lawyer, Clarissa spoke with Bertha on the phone a short time later. Bertha told her daughter that the flood was washing away cars and she didn’t know how to escape. Clarissa suggested meeting her mother at the nearby highway, but Bertha didn’t think she could cross the water.

Clarissa and other family members spent the next hour frantically calling each other and discussing how they could get to the factory as flood waters rose to dangerous levels. According to Coleman, Clarissa called her mother three more times to check, but Bertha did not answer.

By then, Guillermo had rushed out of the house, grabbing two of his children’s life jackets—the only ones he had—as well as a giant, empty jug of water to use as a flotation device. “I just grabbed everything I could and headed there as fast as I could, but a lot of the roads were already closed,” he said.

Several minutes passed and Bertha finally began calling back some of her children and husband. She told them that her phone was too wet and she wouldn’t be able to call them again. Bertha asked for prayers and told her family how much she loved them.

Meanwhile, Guillermo drove around looking for a way to get to the plant. But every path was blocked by rising floodwaters or roadblocks. He later spotted a search and rescue team and nervously waited for updates.

Guillermo saw a helicopter appear overhead. He saw two women being lifted from the stream of water below. “I was sure it was my aunt and my mom,” he said. Guillermo ran forward as the helicopter landed. As he came closer, he saw his Aunt Araceli running towards him – alone. “My aunt is running towards me,” Guillermo recalled. “And she says, ‘I lost your mom.’

“It was a mixed feeling because I was so excited to see my aunt but so heartbroken because at the moment we don’t know anything about my mom,” he said.

Aunt Guillermo told him that she had been separated from Berta while she was trying to stay afloat in the swift current. The Nolichaki River, which is usually about 2 feet deep, rose more than 30 feet that day. Bertha’s body was discovered two days later. The Mendoza family held her funeral on October 7.

Berta Mendoza was remembered for his kindness

Berta Mendoza was the kind of person who—the moment you met her—would hug you and ask if you had eaten,” Guillermo said.

He always admired his mother’s hospitality and attitude toward immigrants who did not have family in the United States. “Mom and Dad always wanted to take them over for Christmas dinner,” he said.

Originally from Mexico, Bertha moved to the United States with her children in 1998 to be closer to her husband Elias, who was a seasonal farm worker in eastern Tennessee. They were one of the first Hispanic families to settle in Erwin, according to Guillermo, her second eldest son.

As their four children grew older, Bertha began looking for work to help pay the bills. She went to work in a factory because she received only an elementary education in Mexico, and it was one of the few places that would hire her. She worked at Impact Plastics for several years.

Bertha was known for her cooking, both among her family and in the city. She was especially good at preparing traditional Mexican dishes, including tres leches cake and tamales, as well as the drink horchata.

Many members of the Mendoza family have birthdays in September. It was Bertha’s 56th birthday. For the first time this year, she proposed celebrating this event with one big party. Guillermo, a minister at First Baptist Church of Erwin, remembers his mother struggling to prepare meals she usually saves for Christmas.

Although Berta’s death has caused Guillermo to question his faith, he likes to imagine that God gave his family one big holiday with his mother.

“My mother is a gentle and kind soul. And I know she wouldn’t want me to live in anger,” he said.

NPR’s Marisa Peñalosa contributed reporting.

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