Severe Weather

[Ksyrup]

I haven't talked to either of them today, but they seem to be coping so I'm assuming they at least have water to drink. But nothing to shower, wash clothes, cook with, etc.

I'm trying to figure out where this statement came from and if it's true - we heard/read that someone is saying I-40 between TN and NC won't be fully operational again until late 2025. That has to be an error, right? We're supposed to be driving there for Thanksgiving. Looks like we might be taking the scenic route through WV...

[GrantDawg]

I think the key there is "fully operational." At least at one point, they lost the interstate, and the land the lanes were on. They are going to have to recreate land to put lanes to get full lanes back up, which I imagine will take some time. So single lanes were there were four, four where there was six, etc. Will probably be the situation for a while.
The flip on that is the fact they can get things moving faster than they estimate situations like this where they will probably throw lots of money at it. Like when I-85 collapsed from fire, it was reopened early, and that interstate in Pennsylvania that got back up in break neck speed.


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[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

One thing that seems very clear for future preparations is having enough clean drinking water available. I'm seeing so many pleas from people stranded in areas begging for water. If I'm ever in a situation where a terrible storm is coming through, I'm filling up jug after jug just in case.

That is the recommendation for any hurricane. It is why people see clips of all the empty shelves where bottles and jugs of water used to be prior to most storms CAT 2 or higher.

[GrantDawg]

I meant to come back and correct what I said earlier. They are absolutely saying I-40 is going to be closed till September of next year. And I-24 until March. They originally thought they could at least partially reopen them, but they determined they are going to have to rebuild an area to even be able to put down lanes.
I saw a geologist talk about the damage from the storms, and she said that the mountains have geographically shifted. This is one of those catastrophes that will be recognizable in the strata going forward. Many places the mountains have shifted and reshaped.

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[Ksyrup]

Yep. That's what I saw too. It wasn't even "fully operational" where it could be partially opened earlier, it was shut down until then. Crazy. I can't afford to fly everyone to Asheville (6 of us) for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to have to find some backroads way to get there. If there will be one. And imagine how many people will be on those roads for the holidays. Sheesh. I'm already dreading it.

[GrantDawg]

You are going to have to either overshoot it south and come in from Georgia or drive further east. That is interstate wise. I think there are still some smaller highways from East Tennessee they hope to get open sooner, but i imagine they are going to be packed with big trucks.

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[RainMaker]

How busy is that road? Seems kind of wild that they can't put up some kind of temporary structure in the coming months.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

You are going to have to either overshoot it south and come in from Georgia or drive further east. That is interstate wise. I think there are still some smaller highways from East Tennessee they hope to get open sooner, but i imagine they are going to be packed with big trucks.

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There's some route that has us getting off of 75 around Corbin KY and taking backroads. But the devil's in the details of what is actually open, or will be in less than 2 months.

[pbot]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

How busy is that road? Seems kind of wild that they can't put up some kind of temporary structure in the coming months.

I-40 runs through a fairly narrow canyon in the area of the collapse. Have some pretty substantial mountains on one side of the highway, and the other side drops down to a river that takes up the bottom of the canyon. It is a beautiful drive.

[Ksyrup]

A favorite drive of mine. If my wife is blindfolded and I'm driving my A4.

[GrantDawg]

I remember driving that route a few times as we moved from North Carolina to Tennessee back in the 90's. Beautiful, but not as fun in a Ryder truck.

[Ksyrup]

No. I did it over July 4th weekend in a Uhaul.

[Ghost Econ]

I hate driving 40 mainly cause of all the semis. Otherwise it would be great. I took the back roads 2 weeks ago and it was gorgeous. The climb wasn't as bad (sometimes 40 can get a little steep and those trucks get going downhill) but occasionally a little twistier. I can't imagine having those roads filled with trucks, assuming it's even passable.