GREENE COUNTY, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Transportation said that all roads in upper East Tennessee should be considered potentially hazardous due to the flooding from Hurricane Helene, which brought rain and winds through the region. That includes areas like Hancock County, Greene County, Jefferson County, Hawkins County and other nearby areas.
It said "many roads and bridges" in the area were compromised due to severe weather. Some of those roads were washed away by nearby rivers that grew to enormous sizes, raging along highways and streets. The transportation department said State Route 34 was damaged at Rhea Road in Johnson County.
It shared a picture of the road effectively gone, washed away by a river and leaving only the guardrail.
It also said a bridge over the Nolichucky River in Greene County was damaged, on State Route 107 in Greene County. A video captured by Daniel Shrader via drone showed the moment the bridge sunk into the water.
TDOT said the bridge was closed. The Greene County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security also said the Kinser Bridge on the Erwin Highway collapsed as of 6:33 p.m.
It also said I-40 East near the Pigeon River in Cocke County saw flooding. Further along Interstate 40, over the state line into North Carolina, a video showed a part of the road washed away. The damage was so severe that the North Carolina Department of Transportation said the road could be closed for a while, with no estimate as to when it would reopen.
I-40 was closed between Cocke County, Tennessee and the entirety of Western North Carolina on Friday morning after catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Helene caused mudslides and left debris along the interstate Friday.
