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.

[Ben E Lou]

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.

To put a finer point on what someone else has already stated, it's narrow, twisty, through mountains, has at least one fairly long tunnel under a mountain, with significant climbs and descents all along the way. I don't claim to be any sort of expert in civil engineering, but just speaking as someone who has driven on roads for 40ish years--including a decent bit in the Rocky Mountains--I'd say that if you exclude long/high bridges over major waterways, I-40 over there has GOT to be in the top 5% in this country in terms of difficulty to build, repair, and maintain.

[albionmoonlight]

I agree with Ben.

This isn't an area where you can just quickly lay a strip of cheap asphalt down on a parallel path to last a year while you repair the real road.

The only path through the mountains is the path that they cut, dug, blasted, and whatever else to lay down I-40 in the first place.

[JPhillips]

Has anyone heard anything about the Blue Ridge Parkway? How much of that was damaged?

[Ksyrup]

Talked to my brother. He's got full power, water, WiFi, everything. Just dealing with the tree damage/clearing at this point.

[Thomkal]

yay!

[stevew]

I was on i40 last summer and I def wouldn’t go that way again. That was wild.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Has anyone heard anything about the Blue Ridge Parkway? How much of that was damaged?

Not sure how much, but its closed indefinitely through all of NC (and I think a good bit of VA as well.)

[Ben E Lou]

Dola:


Just did some checking. There are definitely some sections washed out. A couple of articles indicate that they don't know the extent of the damage. Reading between the lines, and also based what I heard from a buddy of mine who took supplies over there a couple days ago and tried to ride his bike on it while there, my suspicion is that there are so many trees down on it that they haven't been able to access the entire thing yet. They've now closed it "indefinitely" not through all of NC, but all of VA as well.

[Thomkal]

I saw a post on Facebook from Appalachian Escape Cabin, a local business in Tennessee post about all the misinformation that has been going on since the storm. It's pretty long so I just can't cut and paste it here. Basically stating that the surrounding areas/towns have not been flooded out and most businesses and attractions are back open and in some cases never closed. So spread the word to your most conspiracy theory relations/neighbors.

[Ben E Lou]

Per a local news article, NCDOT is saying that 20 miles of I-40 starting at the Tennessee line are closed "indefinitely," and that three different long sections of the highway in that stretch "have essentially fallen into the river. The water rose so high, it washed out all of the threes, all the bushes, all the dirt that helps support the roadway." They're saying an average of ~30,000 vehicles typically travel through the closed section every day. More details here: Access to this page has been denied

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Dola:


Just did some checking. There are definitely some sections washed out. A couple of articles indicate that they don't know the extent of the damage. Reading between the lines, and also based what I heard from a buddy of mine who took supplies over there a couple days ago and tried to ride his bike on it while there, my suspicion is that there are so many trees down on it that they haven't been able to access the entire thing yet. They've now closed it "indefinitely" not through all of NC, but all of VA as well.

That would be my guess. They just need to go through it and get rid of or take down any trees. Don't want a tree to fall on someone.

I heard that area is a huge tourist spot in the fall because of the leaves changing colors. So hopefully it's back soon as I'm sure the local communities rely heavily on that tourist money.

[GrantDawg]

What? You mean spreading rumors and mass hysteria might actually harm the rescue missions?

“The biggest issue is rumors and fake memes and photos of people being trapped in areas around the county," said Prather, who said local/state/fed govt officials are working around the clock to help.

"We send folks out to rescue them, and there’s no one there to be rescued."

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) October 4, 2024

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Dola:


Just did some checking. There are definitely some sections washed out. A couple of articles indicate that they don't know the extent of the damage. Reading between the lines, and also based what I heard from a buddy of mine who took supplies over there a couple days ago and tried to ride his bike on it while there, my suspicion is that there are so many trees down on it that they haven't been able to access the entire thing yet. They've now closed it "indefinitely" not through all of NC, but all of VA as well.

Thanks. That's another road that would be very difficult to repair in some sections. Hopefully the viaduct area isn't damaged.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

That would be my guess. They just need to go through it and get rid of or take down any trees. Don't want a tree to fall on someone.

I heard that area is a huge tourist spot in the fall because of the leaves changing colors. So hopefully it's back soon as I'm sure the local communities rely heavily on that tourist money.

I've basically already seen multiple warnings to avoid leaf-looking in NC this year entirely. And it's actually a contentious topic, with people thinking like you (and me) were "it's critical to the local economy" vs _some_ locals saying "fuck your leaves, we ain't even got water"

[GrantDawg]

We cancelled a camping trip to the North Georgia mountains this month. That had more to do with my friend dealing with damage around his house, but we did wonder what the campground would be like.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

What? You mean spreading rumors and mass hysteria might actually harm the rescue missions?

“The biggest issue is rumors and fake memes and photos of people being trapped in areas around the county," said Prather, who said local/state/fed govt officials are working around the clock to help.

"We send folks out to rescue them, and there’s no one there to be rescued."

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) October 4, 2024

While I'm actually in the general camp of "well over half the social media stuff is absolute crap with no relation to reality" ... it also bears noting that the quoted state rep is a (D) ... and basically has near zero credibility.

There's truth in some of the longer form quote -- especially the part about how much of the shared stuff is woefully out of date by the time it makes the rounds -- but that could also be a "stopped clock exception" sort of accuracy.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

We cancelled a camping trip to the North Georgia mountains this month. That had more to do with my friend dealing with damage around his house, but we did wonder what the campground would be like.

The Appalachian Trail through hike starts in North Georgia, passes close enough to Asheville, and ends 5-6 months later in Maine. I've hiked GA.

Couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if this Hurricane (or some other natural disaster) happened early in the season and caught a bunch of through hikers in GA, TN and NC.