ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – TVA officials believe recent rain and drastic temperature changes are two of the factors that could have led to the early Monday morning mudslide in Harriman.

The mudslide occurred just before 1:00 AM when a dike collapsed at the Kingston Fossil Plant. Fifteen homes in a nearby neighborhood had to be evacuated due to the rush of water and ash. That meant 15 families had to spend the day at a Red Cross Shelter set up on the Roane State Community College Campus.

"Everything I own is history I'm back at ground zero," said James Schean, a victim of the mud slide.

Luckily his wife and daughters weren’t home when it happened, but as soon as they heard about the news they called 911.

"My father lives up there and I can't contact him," said Holly Schean to a 911 dispatcher

Neighbors saw the flood of water, mud and ash starting to rise around the Schean house. That’s when they also called police for help.

“There's only one person in the house,” James Copeland told a 911 dispatcher. “He's alive, but he's trying to bust out of it right now."

At daybreak, TVA officials flew over the area to look at the damage. Cleanup crews also worked throughout the day and kept a close eye on the computerized monitors keeping track of contamination in area springs, sewage lines and the river.

"There are levels of chemicals in there that we are concerned about,” said Tom Kilgore, TVA president and CEO. “We don't think there's any immediate danger because most of that is contained, but that's why we have sampling folks out who will continue to look at that."

The Kingston Fossil Plant, which produces about 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, is still generating power and ash is being diverted into another adjacent ash pond. Plant officials say the railway used to bring in coal was covered up in the mudslide, leaving them with just a 50 day supply of fuel to produce electricity.

The Schean home was also wiped out in the mudslide, but family members said they already have the best Christmas present ever.

"When Christmas rolls around I would like for people to look at the most valuable thing in life which is your health and your children," said James Schean.