ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia is closed.
The National Park Service said crews are continuing to assess the damage from Hurricane Helene.
To assist with recovery efforts, the National Park Service has deployed its Eastern Incident Management Team, which brings specialized skills and resources to support the parkway with employee emergency needs, emergency stabilization of affected park resources, and damage assessments, a news release from the NPS said. As of Saturday morning, 214 National Park Service employees representing 57 national parks from 32 states and the District of Columbia are working with Blue Ridge Parkway staff in the recovery efforts.
National Park Service assessment teams are still completing their initial inspections of the parkway, acquiring the data they will need to analyze the full impact of Hurricane Helene.
“Based on what the teams have seen so far, significant, and in some cases catastrophic, damage has occurred along the parkway, particularly from milepost 280 to milepost 469 in North Carolina,” according to the news release.
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- Tree damage near milepost 375
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- Ferrin Knob Tunnel #3 – Milepost 401
In the coming weeks, the assessment teams will utilize the data from their inspections to determine the full extent of the damage including the timeline and cost estimates for repairs.
A projected reopening date of any section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina has not yet been established.
In Virginia, damage assessments and the clearing of debris from the road are nearing completion, which will for allow a phased reopening in Virginia in the coming days to weeks.
