The eastbound and westbound Interstate 26 bridges near mile marker 40 in Unicoi County collapsed Friday during peak Hurricane Helene flooding.
UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. – New video and photos show the aftermath of catastrophic flooding in one East Tennessee county.
Two bridges in both the eastbound and westbound lanes on Interstate 26 near Erwin, Tennessee, collapsed Friday during the flooding from Hurricane Helene.
Videos taken on Monday by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) detail the damage in the daylight.
A video from Monday shows the aftermath of two bridges that collapsed on Friday during Helene flooding. The bridges are located in Unicoi County, Tennessee.
Both bridges partially collapsed into the waters of the Nolichucky River, which has now receded significantly. The collapsed chunks of bridge still hang from the intact pieces of road.
Wire mesh peeks out from under the broken asphalt of the bridge, and large piles of debris litter the ground near the wreckage.
In photos of the debris from TDOT, amid the sizable piles of tree branches and limbs and other pieces of wood, lies a tank of some kind. Other colored debris can be seen scattered throughout the wood piles.
‘GET OUT OF THE WAY!’: BRIDGE COLLAPSES INTO RIVER FLOODED BY HELENE IN EAST TENNESSEE
In neighboring Greene County, another bridge collapsed into the Nolichucky River during the floodwaters on Saturday. Video from the incident shows the Kisner Bridge being taken out by the rushing floodwaters before being carried away by the river.
The death toll from Helene continues to rise nearly a week after the storm’s first impact in Florida last Thursday.
In Tennessee, at least nine people died from the storm.