TELLICO PLAINS, Tenn. — The Cherokee National Forest was damaged by both flooding and winds during storms that swept through the area, temporarily blocking some campgrounds and damaging roads.
The national park said many areas of the Tellico Ranger District and areas north of it, including the Cherohala Skyway, were inaccessible Tuesday. Crews worked to clear roadways and on Wednesday were clearing campers that were blocked in the campgrounds.
Stateline and Big Oak Cove campgrounds were evacuated, and the Dennis Cove Campground and Watauga Ranger District experienced weather-related damage.
"We had a whole lot of wind damage up north, in the northern end up close to teh state line. The Tellico Plains area was mainly a water event. The USGS monitoring station showed an increase of around 20,000 cubic feet per second, in a span of two hours," said Christopher Joyner, the public affairs officer for the Cherokee National Forest.
He said small creeks in the area swelled quickly, bringing a ranger station underwater. He said they flooded all through the building and the parking lots.
"Our main priorities have been the preservation of life and property," he said. "If you're planning on a trip anywhere in the Tellico Ranger District, there's a good chance the campgrounds are probably going to be closed. Our main artery to Tellico River Rd. is closed for the foreseeable future."
He said teh rains washed much of the foundation out, which could result in roads seeming to be fine at first glance, but are actually too unstable to use. He said the Tellico River Rd. was closed from the Skyway to North River Rd.
He also the park is recommending people avoid North River Rd. unless they have a high-clearance vehicle.
"We don't know when the Skyway is going to be opened back up. We are working with TDOT on establishing an alternative route. Unfortunately, those areas don't have a whole lot of other ways to go," he said. "The damage was really isolated. In most of the forest, across teh entire Cherokee National Forest, you won't see damage. But when you do see it, there's a lot of damage."
He said they are working to provide updates on the damage on their Facebook page and on their website. When they have a better idea of the conditions of the roads, they said they would post them online.
"We just encourage people to, if they can avoid the forest in that Tellico River area, for the time being, that will really help us in being able to address those issues. And please be patient with us, we're working as fast as we can to get those things opened up. And we had we've had a lot of damage on our facilities as well," said Joyner. "And we have a lot of work to do."
On Wednesday, TDOT released an official detour route around the Cherohala Skyway. It is around 121 miles long, taking drivers around at either Old Furnace Rd. or River Rd. depending on the direction.
