Popular national park area to close down indefinitely

Foundation inside Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and stretching the total way through the Blue Ridge Mountains and to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway should be often often known as “The U. S.’s Favorite Drive” end results of the its very picturesque stretch of wooded area and mountainous terrain.

The Blue Ridge Parkway also happens to be the country’s most-visited park site, with greater than thirteen.three million adventurers coming to peer untapped nature and likewise the thousands of deer, elk, black bears, coyote and countless other animal species who also call it home.

Do not miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free day-to-day newsletter

Related: I visited two of the country's most underrated National Parks — here's what it transform like

But with Hurricane Helene making landfall and causing destruction across the southeastern United States earlier this month, a huge section of the Blue Ridge Parkway leading up to Milepost 271 near Great Smoky Mountains sustained significant storm damage — debris, fallen trees and washed-out stretches of road.

‘Closures will remain in place until personnel can safely assess storm damage’

Emergency workers are currently assessing the extent of the damage on different stretches of the road and, in keeping with the National Park Service (NPS), the general area will likely be closed indefinitely end results of the great damage.

More Travel:

• A brand new travel term is taking up the cyber web (and reaching airlines and hotels)
• The ten best airline stocks to buy for now
• Airlines see a new kind of traveler at the front of the plane

"Closures will remain in place until personnel can safely assess the park and clear any storm damage," the NPS writes on its web pages online for the Blue Ridge Parkway, adding it is going to “issue updates as they are available.”

The government agency further added that ninety nine NPS workers across 22 states and the nearby DC area are assisting with recovery efforts that include damage assessment along with to stabilization of any water emergencies and clean-up of fallen trees.

Related: Get definitely the right cruise tips, deals, and news on the ships from our expert cruiser

‘Really good skills and resources to toughen the parkway with emergency needs’

“The National Park Service has deployed its Eastern Incident Management Team which brings really expert skills and resources to toughen the parkway with employee emergency needs, emergency stabilization of affected park resources, and damage assessments,” the NPS writes further.

With Hurricane Helene causing greater than 200 deaths, the Biden Administration has deployed over 1,000 soldiers to hard-hit states corresponding to North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee on top of National Guard troops sent by state  authorities.

Within Great Smoky Mountains itself, the Newfound Gap Road/US 441 transform closed between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 over safety concerns while the storm transform still ongoing but has now been reopened to those passing throughout the park.

That said, visitors who were planning to come to the national park this week are still being encouraged to position off their trips to a a lot better time as many areas have still now no longer been cleaned up from storm damage while personnel ability to help in the event of an emergency should be limited. Those who had planned to hike or explore the park’s backcountry are in particular encouraged to position off such activities as creek crossings and remote trails may now no longer yet be secured.

“Various park employees in both North Carolina and Tennessee are coping with emergencies at home or are unable to drive to work end results of the closed roads,” the NPS writes for the page on Great Smoky Mountains. “Multiple employees are also assisting the Blue Ridge Parkway and surrounding communities.”

Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks