RALEIGH – State transportation officials are urging people to avoid unnecessary travel in western North Carolina as about 390 roads, including areas along Interstate 40 and dozens of highways in the foothills and mountains, remain closed due to flooding, downed trees, landslides or catastrophic damage from Helene.
N.C. Department of Transportation crews worked day and night over the weekend to assess the widespread damage to roads and will prioritize efforts to reopen interstates, U.S., and state highways first before getting to state-maintained secondary roads.
However, the emergency response and recovery effort will likely take months as damage to many roads and bridges is serious. Hundreds of thousands of power outages and limited cell phone coverage are impacting those efforts.
“Our top priority is everyone’s safety and well-being,” said state Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins. “People should still consider roads in western North Carolina to be closed and avoid travel unless it is absolutely necessary. Priority must be given to all the emergency responders, utility and transportation crews, and others who are working hard to help with what will be a lengthy response and recovery effort.”
More than 1,600 NCDOT employees and contract crews are working with utilities to clear roads of debris, repair others where possible, and determine how to repair or replace roads more seriously damaged or destroyed.
NCDOT crews from lesser impacted parts of the state have been deploying to the western part of the state since Friday and that continued through the weekend.
Those include crews who will be bringing in fuel, backhoes, and front-end loaders to remove debris from mudslides, and chainsaw teams to cut and shove downed trees from roads.
Most of the road closures are west of Interstate 77 due to high water where the roads are impassable or flooded, pipes that have failed beneath roads, or roads and bridges covered by debris from rock slides, downed power lines and fallen trees.
The department began this weekend assessing repair plans and timelines for the damage done to the road network.
More than 60 closures are along primary routes including I-40, U.S. 74, U.S. 64, and dozens of other U.S. and N.C. highways.
“The scope and magnitude of this devastation is unlike anything many long-time residents have ever seen in western North Carolina,” Hopkins said. “We’re doing everything we can to help North Carolina recover from this devastating storm but this will be a long-term effort. We need people to be patient and help us with the recovery effort by staying off the roads.”
