The South and East Coasts were well-ravaged thanks to Hurricane Helene over the last few weeks. Countless lives have been lost, property destroyed, homes swept away, and livelihoods all but decimated for a large portion of the public.
Worse yet, there's another Hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico as I type these words.
The outpouring of help from both the local communities, as well as those in the nation at large has been awesome to see, though. Especially in a time when the media wants to cast a blanket around the populace saying we're at each other's throats. See, in times of crisis, we can come together and help each other out.
But as these communities are resilient, and people pick up the pieces of their lives, there's been more time to assess the damage around the surrounding areas. And one of the chief concerns, one that's been neglected essentially since it's inception, is our nation's critical infrastructure. Case in point, portions of the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway, a destination for motorcyclists and car drivers alike, were swept away and, as such, now closed.
Indefinitely.
Situated in both North Carolina and Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway is part of the National Parks system and governed by the NPS. Its twisty, tree-lined, vista-rich entirety is one that's one of the East Coast's crown jewels in terms of riding, and one that attracts visitors both from around the country, and the world. Yet, while the NPS had closed the Blue Ridge Parkway before the storm for some small repairs, it's since closed it properly as huge chunks of the roadway were destroyed in the storm.
And again, another hurricane is strengthening in the Gulf right now, with the likelihood to further affect the area.
According to an update made on October 5th through the NPS website, "The entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia is closed as crews continue their assessment of the damage from Hurricane Helene. The National Park Service has deployed its Eastern Incident Management Team which brings specialized skills and resources to support the parkway with employee emergency needs, emergency stabilization of affected park resources, and damage assessments. As of Thursday afternoon, 250 National Park Service employees from 32 states and the District of Columbia are working with Blue Ridge Parkway staff in the recovery efforts."
They go further, stating, "National Park Service assessment teams are still completing their initial inspections of the parkway, 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."
That's a massive swath of the Blue Ridge Parkway, one that's likely not to be fixed in any real sense soon. In recent years, though more and more politicians have talked about fixing and updating the nation's infrastructure, little more than lip service has been done to actually do anything about it. Bridges are collapsing, roadways are crumbling, and highways and byways are, well, so out of date, they're dangerous. So while the Blue Ridge Parkway is a major tourist attraction for the two states, construction and repairs are likely to take a long time. Which ain't good for any riders who aimed to take that awesome road in.
Weirdly, however, Tail of the Dragon, a road that's only a few hours south of the Blue Ridge Parkway, remains open and wasn't really affected by the Hurricane as it made landfall.
The Dragon's website, which is maintained by the Tennesse Tourism board, states, "The eye of Hurricane Helene passed over the Tail of the Dragon as the storm raged to our east and west. We actually could see the sun in the minutes it passed. Oddly this left our area virtually untouched compared to other areas in North Carolina and Tennessee. Visitors headed this way should carefully plan their route to get here, but all of our roads near the Dragon are fine."
But folks should pay attention to that last line, as first and foremost, you don't want to get in the way of rescue and recovery efforts. These people are trying to still find loved ones, pets, and in some cases, their homes. Likewise, the roads may not be passable to get to the Dragon, so pay attention to your maps and navigation. And lastly, there's another storm coming.
So maybe now is not the best time to visit?
