A vital bridge in Buncombe County, North Carolina that was damaged during Hurricane Helene has reopened more than two months later. The bridge serviced an average of 16 thousand vehicles per day (Video Credit: NCDOT).
SWANNANOA, N.C. – Signs of normalcy are beginning to return to Western North Carolina more than two months after Hurricane Helene devastated the region. A key bridge on U.S. Highway 70 in Buncombe County, reopened Tuesday night for the first time since being heavily damaged by the hurricane.
“With this reopening, no other U.S. highways are closed in Buncombe County,” according to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
After Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina, first responders, like Kannapolis Fire Chief Tracy Winecoff, have been working tirelessly to help those in need. Winecoff joins FOX Weather to discuss more about the current state of recovery efforts and how his team is holding up.
The department reports that the bridge serviced an average of 16,000 vehicles per day before the hurricane.
It connects the cities of Asheville and Swannanoa, two places that were hardest hit by Helene.
The bridge also serves a nearby veterans hospital.
Meanwhile, crews remain hard at work trying to finish repairs on the historic 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which partially reopened last month.
ADDITIONAL SECTIONS OF BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY REOPEN IN NORTH CAROLINA
Naaman Horn, of the National Park Service, talks about the reopening of a nearly 20-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first time since Hurricane Helene devastated the region.
Transportation officials believe this will relieve heavy traffic that has built up on interstates 40 and 240 east of Asheville.
A portion of I-40 that was washed away in the Pigeon River Gorge, is expected to reopen by the start of the year.
I-40 SECTION WASHED AWAY BETWEEN TENNESSEE, NORTH CAROLINA BY HELENE HAS TARGETED REOPENING DATE
Dashcam footage shot on Friday morning shows the moment a couple barely escaped a mudslide that came crashing onto an interstate in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. (Courtesy: Alan Keffer via Storyful)
Officials said that more than 1,230 roads across western North Carolina have been reopened since Helene, including more than 120 in the past week.
There are less than 190 Helene-related closures remaining, officials said.