Rebuilding roads after a devastating hurricane

For months, Interstate 40 in western North Carolina was cut off following the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

In February, part of the interstate reopened, but only for drivers who need to use it, and at a reduced speed.

There were more than 1,400 road closures and 10 million cubic yards of debris removed from roads and waterways. It’s been eight months, and WNC continues to face the aftermath of the most damaging and costly natural disaster in the state’s history.

Rebuilding has been arduous, and nowhere is that more evident than the work it took to reconnect I-40 from North Carolina to Tennessee.

“Our IMAP crews start driving from the Asheville side and noticed no traffic was coming through, so they know there’s a problem. They got together with other local officials and opened a gate and sent traffic back to the Tennessee line,” said David Uchiyama with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. “Without that emergency response in the moment, I have zero doubt that people would have died.

The reconstruction was a historic operation that took 126 days. Although the road hasn’t been fully rebuilt, the massive undertaking of opening one lane in each direction was monumental for commuters and for commerce.

Some businesses are still feeling the impacts of the storm. Cass Santander with Explore Asheville says that even with 97% of the roads being partially or fully reopened, tourism is down.

“Seventy-five percent of hospitality and tourism-facing businesses are reopened, and there is a determination and grit to come back better than ever, and it’s an exciting time to come and visit,” Santander said.

Some roads are still struggling to reopen. Highway 64, for example, is still closed from Lake Lure through Chimney Rock and Bat Cave. Roads in Yancey County will likely take years to rebuild.

“Yancey County was one of the more devastated areas because of the rivers,” Uchiyama said. “The Cane River, Nolichucky River that flow through it, just wiping out everything along its way.”

So how do we prepare for future storms? Uchiyama says it’s not about preparation, but more about resilience.

“Design standards have changed over the decades. So anything that is newer is better. And anything that is going in new now is going to be better than anything built even five years ago,” Uchiyama said.

But through the noise of the bulldozers and the debris still lingering, what was once seen as a near-impossible task of rebuilding has transformed into inspiring stories of what can be achieved.

(VIDEO: FEMA offers to sell temporary housing units to WNC families displaced by Hurricane Helene)