Interstate 40 in storm-ravaged western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee is open to traffic five months after Hurricane Helene demolished the area in late September; see AWFUL: Death Toll Rises to 64 in the Wake of Hurricane Helene – RedState. I-40 is the key commercial artery connecting Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Nashville, Tennessee, and points west. A 43-mile section of I-40 was heavily damaged by Hurricane Helene, and a 12-mile stretch was totally obliterated by the storm, necessitating a lengthy detour.
Partial List of Hurricane Helene Stories:
Joe Biden Gives Absolutely Terrible Answer on Hurricane Helene Help, and the Anger Is Palpable – RedState
Kamala Harris Visits FEMA HQ and What Happened Next Was an Insult to Our Intelligence – RedState
OUCH: Trump Savages Kamala Over Viral Photo Showing ‘She Has No Clue What She’s Doing’ – RedState
WATCH: Kamala Goes ‘Full Biden’ As Reporters Are Forced Out of FEMA Meeting – RedState
Biden Admin Goes Off the Rails Again With Clueless Post From Samantha Power in Face of Hurricane Helene – RedState
The federal response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Tennessee could have been easily mistaken for a calculated campaign of ethnic cleansing. The White House ignored the storm damage in Appalachia, taking over a week to even acknowledge it existed (Joe and Jill Biden Finally Deliver Remarks on Hurricane Helene – the Reaction Does Not Go Well – RedState). We discovered via an incident in Florida that FEMA did not provide services to homes displaying Trump campaign items; see Florida Sues FEMA Director for Civil Rights Violations During Hurricane Recovery – RedState. When Biden and FEMA did respond, their help seemed more focused on preventing recovery and making life difficult on survivors than anything else; see Joe Biden’s Dawdling in Ordering Federal Troops for Disaster Relief Is Incompetent, Malicious, or Both – RedState, A Helicopter Pilot’s Rescue of a Couple Shows Everything Wrong With the Government’s Response to Helene – RedState, and Feds’ Appalling Response to NC Hurricane Victims Is Spawning Conspiracies, but There’s a Silver Lining – RedState. FEMA was short on relief funding for North Carolina, forcing families out of hotels after only a short stay while, at the same time, it was spending tens of millions of dollars on housing illegal migrants in hotels in New York and other cities; see Prepare to Be Enraged: Mayorkas Says FEMA Lacks Funds for Relief Efforts After Billions Spent on Illegals – RedState.
Partial List of Hurricane Helene Stories:
Become Ungovernable, Save People – RedState
Unconscionable: Reports Reveal Biden Delayed Aid Efforts With His Visit to North Carolina – RedState
WATCH: West North Carolina Cries for Resources While FEMA Lets Them Languish on the Tarmac – RedState
The Government’s Failure to Help After Helene Goes Far Beyond What the Media Is Willing to Tell You – RedState
Does the Biden-Harris Response to Helene Prove It’s Insidious, Incompetent, or Both? – RedState
The slow-rolling of repairs on I-40 appeared to be just another part of the plan to depopulate North Carolina’s Appalachian region and flip the state from purple to bright blue. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who’d already displayed his particular brand of incompetence by taking “paternity leave” (lol) and the Third World response to a container ship dropping the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, said, “It will take billions of dollars and months, if not years” to reopen I-40.
Partial List of Hurricane Helene Stories:
North Carolina Deputy Warns People Who Want to Help Western North Carolina: ‘Do Not Donate to FEMA’ – RedState
Brian Trascher of United Cajun Navy Confirms a Blackhawk Did ‘Rotor Wash’ a Western NC Resource Site – RedState
NEW: As People in NC Are Living in Tents in the Cold, Biden Pledges More Money Overseas – RedState
FEMA Illustrates Perfectly What’s Wrong With Government When Hurricane Victim Asks for New Window – RedState
Feel-Good Friday: The Resurrection of Western North Carolina Is an Example of America at Its Finest – RedState
With the incoming Trump administration, new energy came to helping the Appalachian communities recover. Sean Duffy was sworn in on January 28; UPGRADE: Sean Duffy Confirmed As Transportation Secretary, Replacing the Inept Pete Buttigieg – RedState.One of his first visits was to western North Carolina; Wednesday Morning Minute: Incredible Times – RedState.
Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited North Carolina and Tennessee to assess the damage along I-40 caused by Hurricane Helene and received an update on the ongoing recovery efforts from state and federal officials.
“Our hearts broke last year watching Hurricane Helene ravage the communities in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “When one part of our country hurts, our entire nation hurts and that is why it is my priority to help the people of North Carolina and Tennessee rebuild this critical highway, ensuring their communities stay connected to the rest of both states.”
During the visit, Secretary Duffy also announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and U.S. Forest Service have partnered in their efforts to help USDOT obtain a “Special Use” permit to use rock from Forest Service land and extract construction materials from the local river. This will allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to get construction materials from a nearby river, just 1 to 3 miles away, instead of transporting them from 20 to 50 miles away, a process that would have tripled both the cost and duration of the project. This permit is a commonsense solution to reduce the time it would take to rebuild the highway and significantly cut down on costs.
“President Trump directed me to build infrastructure faster, better, and more affordably,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “That is why, when we recently identified a path to reduce I-40’s construction costs and timeline by as much as two-thirds of the original Biden-era estimate, I immediately asked my team what we could do to help. Today’s announcement will help ensure we deliver this critical project more efficiently for the American people. Too often, the federal government creates obstacles that slow recovery and drive up costs. This time, we’re cutting through those burdensome barriers to get the job done, ensuring USDOT’s full support for our state partner’s success every step of the way throughout this project.”
The newly opened road section does have speed restrictions and can’t be used by trucks with oversized loads, but that will gradually improve. For the time being, the communities and businesses along I-40 have a functioning highway.
Officials estimate it will take another two to three years to fully restore I-40 to its original four-lane capacity. However, this timeline is contingent on several factors, including material availability and weather conditions.
It could take that long if enough governmental entities drag their feet. I’d just point out that it didn’t take three years to build this section of I-40 during its original construction in 1958.
