The North Carolina mountains continue to heal from Hurricane Helene.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced that Interstate 40 near Pigeon River Gorge will reopen with one lane in each direction by New Year's Day, allowing access to the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.
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An additional 11 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway reopened Wednesday in Asheville from milepost 382.5 at U.S. 70, near the Folk Art Center, to milepost 393.6 at N.C. Route 191, near the N.C. Arboretum.
"With today’s opening, we have now restored access to over 310 miles of the Parkway,” Blue Ridge Parkway superintendent Tracy Swartout said. “Incident teams and contractors have been working on this section for over a month, with large numbers of damaged trees, vast amounts of tree debris in the roadway and heavy equipment at work simultaneously throughout the corridor."
Damage evaluations and debris removal continue on the Blue Ridge Parkway north of U.S. 70 and south of State Route 191.
Visitors are still asked to plan ahead, calling hotels and venues to confirm reservations and allowing extra time for road closures. Around 300 roads still need to be repaired in western North Carolina, including these major routes.
All city of Asheville parks and community centers officially reopened Wednesday, including the buildings and outdoor facilities surrounding them. Many Buncombe County parks remain closed and are not safe to enter, including Lake Julian and Owen Park.
Asheville remains under a boil water advisory (for water used for cooking, drinking and brushing teeth), but efforts are underway to make the water safe again.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers posted: "USACE is restoring safe water access across Western North Carolina. We’re completing a purification mission at UNC Asheville and setting up filtration systems for Asheville and nearby areas to improve water quality after recent heavy rains."
An update from Buncombe County's government said another round of treatment at the North Fork Reservoir will occur next week. There has already been some improvement.
"The reservoir now has reduced chlorination levels to 2.5 parts per million (ppm), down from 4 ppm," Buncombe County posted. "Normally, the chlorination level is 1.5-1.8 (ppm)."
Community care stations are still open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., offering showers and laundry to Helene survivors.
Additionally, water and ready-to-eat meals are available at these distribution sites daily:
- Sky Lanes Bowling Alley
- Black Mountain Ingles
- Swannanoa Ingles
- Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
- Pack Square Park
- Buncombe County Sports Park
- Fairview Ingles