A week after Tropical Storm Helene’s rains flooded western North Carolina, all of the Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed, and access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is limited.
Recreation areas at national forests in the region — including Nantahala and Pisgah forests — will also remain closed until conditions improve. Some campgrounds in Cherokee National Forest are open to house displaced residents, according to the forest’s website.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is heavily discouraging visitors to the area, and local authorities are following suit. In Haywood County, near the Smoky Mountains, the local tourism authority told potential tourists to refrain from traveling to the area to avoid further strain on disaster relief efforts.
The fall is typically a major tourism season in the mountains of North Carolina, drawing visitors to see the changing colors of the leaves. But Cooper told the Ashville Citizen Times that his message is clear: Tourists need to stay away from a region with limited power and water, as well as roads washed away by raging floodwaters.
