Evacuations ordered as Tennessee dam at risk of breach

More than 50 people were rescued Friday from an eastern Tennessee hospital due to fast-rising water and high winds, Ballad Health officials said.

The high winds and water levels prevented helicopter crews from airlifting patients and staff from Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, hospital officials said.

Unicoi County Emergency Medical Services Director Adam Copas said some first responders were trapped inside the hospital with patients and were able to help them get to its rooftop, where helicopter crews from the Tennessee Army National Guard and Virginia State Police pulled them from harm’s way.

“It was organized chaos, but there was a plan, and we executed it and affected that rescue the way that it should have been done and as safe as we possibly could,” Copas told NBC News’ Tom Llamas.

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Laura Brafford, a resident of Clearwater, spoke to NBC News’ Tom Llamas about the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene on her home, which was flooded with four feet of water.

Brafford, her husband and two children evacuated from their home before the storm hit and says the damage is devastating.

She said they took extra precautions after Hurricane Idalia hit their home, installing floodgates.

“We felt like we had done what we could to mitigate that compared to what we had gotten with Idalia. But in the end, this surpassed completely what we had gotten that storm, and it was definitely shocking,” she said.

Brafford said she has learned to never let her guard down when it comes to storms saying, “safety comes first, and any inconveniences from evacuating comes second.”