Home Blue Ridge Parkway has catastrophic damage from Helene; entire length closed indefinitely
Local

Blue Ridge Parkway has catastrophic damage from Helene; entire length closed indefinitely

Crystal Graham
Blue Ridge Parkway damage
Image courtesy NPS

The entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed as National Park Service crews continue to assess the damage from Hurricane Helene.

The National Park Service has deployed its Eastern incident management team in North Carolina and Virginia.

The team brings specialized skills and resources to support the parkway with employee emergency needs, emergency stabilization of affected park resources and damage assessments.

Blue Ridge Parkway staff are working with 250 National Park Service employees from 32 states and the District of Columbia on the recovery efforts.

National Park Service assessment teams are still completing their initial inspections of the parkway and acquiring the data they will need to analyze the full impact of Hurricane Helene.

Based on what the teams have seen so far, significant, and in some cases catastrophic, damage has occurred along the parkway, particularly from milepost 280 to milepost 469.

In the coming weeks, the assessment teams will utilize the data from their inspections to determine the full extent of the damage including the timeline and cost estimates for repairs.

A projected reopening date of any section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina has not yet been established; assessment crews are finishing their work in Virginia.

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.

Latest News

senior health balance cane
Health, Local

James Madison University research team to tackle aging, balance issues in study

home house doormat housing
Economy, Government, Politics

Affordable housing bill to expand options with federal Housing Credit

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would lead to more affordable housing options by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

mark warner tim kaine
Economy, Politics, Virginia

Here we go again: Kaine, Warner vote to confirm another Trump nominee

Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both voted on Tuesday to confirm a 2020 election denier, David Perdue, to be the Trump administration ambassador to China. I’m with you. What the hell? Perdue, in addition to being an election denier, is, like Trump, a fail-up guy – he was a senator...

donald trump ben cline pic
Education, Local, Politics, Virginia

Ben Cline discusses gutting Department of Education with Harrisonburg School Board

Winsome Earle-Sears
Politics, Virginia

Earle-Sears backs Reid in fight with Youngkin, who wants Reid off the ballot

fentanyl
Health, Politics, Virginia

Youngkin advances wild claim about fentanyl deaths: Seriously, 85 million?

donald trump healthcare
Health, Politics

Republicans are going to gut Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the 1 percent