As disturbing footage makes it out of the flood-ravaged regions in the American southeast, one unsettling clip that shows the state of affairs in the area is going viral.
The short video was posted by WCCB meteorologist Kaitlin Wright on Sunday and showed a coffin bobbing in the torrent of floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Helene.
“This is so horrific and heartbreaking,” Wright wrote on a Facebook post with the video. “From Unicoi County, Tennessee.”
Wright credited another person, Loren T., for the video.
“I am sick to my stomach seeing videos like this,” Wright wrote. “This is real life for some many in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina right now. I wish I could do more.”
The casket seen floating in the muddied floodwaters was later found entangled in debris in Erwin, Tennessee, according to Fox Weather.
The casket was discovered as search and rescue teams combed the area.
“Our community is in a state of shock and grief as we come to terms with the destruction caused by the flood,” Erwin resident Karen Tipton told Fox Weather. “It’s heartbreaking to see the loss of life and the devastation to people’s homes and businesses.”
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Tipton was part of a team of some 100 people that searched the local area after floodwaters retreated.
“The floods have not only caused physical damage,” Tipton said, “but also emotional and financial damage to our close-knit community.”
There are still 47 people unaccounted for in Unicoi County, according to the Johnson City Press.
There are an additional 102 people missing from the surrounding communities. Some 1,500 remain without power in the region.
Rebuilding the communities’ basic infrastructure will not happen overnight.
Lee Brown, president and CEO of Erwin Utilities, announced all his teams have been deployed to restore power to customers in critical sectors. He said non-flooded areas may be electrified as early as Wednesday, but the area around the hospital and other devastated places could take weeks to recover.
The destruction has also presented an opportunity for criminals.
Eight men, reportedly migrants, were arrested in Tennessee on Saturday after allegedly looting areas hit by hurricane-force winds and biblical floodwaters.
Officials have dispatched extra security to cover the scarce remaining resources, mostly fuel, food and water.
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