NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In northeast Tennessee, survivors of the remnants of Hurricane Helene say the storm swallowed up the area.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reports at least three people were killed in the catastrophic storm and miles of roadways and bridge lanes flooded away.
In Cocke County on I-40, the breakdown lane broke off into the Pigeon River during the historic flooding. Of course, the interstate takes drivers to and from North Carolina. It's also one of the best places to see Tennessee's fall foliage and access the Great Smoky Mountains.
"This is a devastating economic loss for our community, for our state," said Rep. Jeremy Faison.
Rep. Jeremy Faison is the House Republican Caucus Chairman at the state legislature. He also represents Cocke County, parts of Hamblen County, and Jefferson County.
Over the weekend, the state representative saw the major damage to crucial water treatment systems in the area. Since soon after the rain started, most people have not had running water in their community and have been using bottled water to drink, bathe, etc.
"It looks pretty astronomical. I talked to the director of Newport Utilities. He said it could be over a week from now before we could get water back to anybody in our county," Rep. Faison said.
While it's too early to tell what repairs will cost, Rep. Faison is preparing for the local economies to take a huge hit. The leaf-peeping season is just about to get started. Fall Break is next week for many schools.
"This is the Smokies. This is God's country. People from literally all over the world. We're the #1 most visited park in America. This puts a massive damper on that," he said.
"If it is bad, I'm going to ask the governor to consider allowing our communities that were so heavily damaged — like Unicoi — would they consider, if we're going to lose this much revenue, can we keep our sales tax revenue local? To help us with all our infrastructure? With all the building? With all we're losing without people stopping here?" he said.
Traveling to this area for non-emergency purposes is not a good idea. If you want to help, visit the East Tennessee Foundation to make a monetary donation.
According to the Tennessee Department of Tourism, cities like Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge are open for business as usual. There are a few road closures at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but roads are opening every day.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
