On Thursday, Queen City News went with North Carolina Department of Transportation officials through Yancey County — one of the hardest hit areas — to see the progress that has been made and the work that still must be done.
“If you go across this road and you take a left, that’s Bald Mountain Road,” said Tyler Shelton, an NCDOT county maintenance engineer.
The recovery and rebuilding have been a long, continuous road.
“If you didn’t experience it, you didn’t see videos, you would have never known,” said Shelton of the progress that’s being made to rebuild.
They’re getting there.
“We actually installed a causeway and a temporary bridge,” said Shelton, driving through Yancey County.
For Shelton, the work is personal.
“I have family in this area, yes, my great-grandfather’s store is or was further down 19 west,” said Shelton.
Was — it’s a word that delineates everything in Yancey County.
What was here before Hurricane Helene, and what was destroyed by the storm.
“Where the vans are parked, where we’re standing, where cars are driving across, it was gone,” said Shelton.
He’s the county maintenance engineer for NCDOT.
“I had my moments, but really just progress, just keep working,” said Shelton.
And there was plenty of work to be done.
Temporary bridges that didn’t even exist before Hurricane Helene were built out of rail cars. The DOT had to build about 15 of those in Yancey County just so people could get around.
In the seven-county division, which includes Yancey, 93 bridges needed to be replaced because of Helene.
Permanent repairs to bridges and roads aren’t expected to be completed for another two years. When it’s all said and done, that’s expected to cost $2.5 billion for the seven-county region alone.
“The scope of this has not been seen in North Carolina before,” said Chris Deyton, Deputy Division Engineer for NCDOT.
Shelton will be right there every step of the way.
“It’s kind of inspiring,” said Shelton of the work and the progress that has been made.
He’s also grateful for all the help they’ve received on the journey, which continues.
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