SCOTT COUNTY, Tenn. — On May 26, high winds damaged several buildings and toppled trees across Scott County. Some areas remained blocked off on Tuesday, with barricades on Divide Road.
The Charit Creek Lodge, a lodging area located in the backcountry area of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, said it was hit hard by the storms. It said on social media that there was extensive damage, but none of the actual lodging structures were damaged. However, the storm swept away crew quarters and equipment used to maintain the lodge.
On social media, the lodge also said because of its location, the business was uninsurable.
Gregg White, the concessioner of Charit Creek Lodge, said the further into the area visitors go — the worse the damage is.
"People walk in a mile and a half, say with us one, two or three nights and then during the daytime, while they're there, they do hiking and play in the creek," said White. "The storm took out my crew village, which is where all the crew lives, all the little houses, and also all the administrative stuff that it takes to run the lodge."
White said he is facing around $50,000 in damages. He also said he canceled all reservations for at least four weeks — around 6,000 bookings.
"There's so much damage to the roads and trails around the lodge. So, all that stuff is now closed," he said.
He said he is trying to raise money through the lodge's social media pages to pay for the damages. He also said people across the community are offering to help the lodge recover.
White said he expects to pay for repairs out-of-pocket, but he hopes to have the lodge back up and running by the end of June.
"Basically, they've asked me to stay away until they get some of these hazard trees out of the way, which I'm happy to do so — to let them do their work," he said. "Because of the location, the backcountry location, there's no way to get anything in there in case of a fire or anything. I couldn't obtain insurance."