Landslide forces 90-mile detour after Tropical Storm Zeta tears through NC mountains
Trees, dirt and debris littered N.C. 226 on Friday after Tropical Storm Zeta ripped through Western North Carolina, cutting off access between mountain counties and forcing drivers on a 90-mile detour, officials say.
The landslide occurred overnight about half a mile north of the U.S. 221 intersection in McDowell County, emergency management officials said in a tweet just after 4 a.m.
“Residents living on NC 226N and NC 226A will have to use an alternative route,” the tweet said. “Emergency crews are on the scene.”
Zeta was downgraded from a Category 2 hurricane to a tropical storm as it barreled through North Carolina on Thursday, bringing with it heavy rain, flooding and winds topping 60 mph, McClatchy News reported.
“These winds will likely combine with saturated soil conditions to knock down numerous trees, limbs, and power lines later this morning. ... Wind gusts could be especially severe across the southern Appalachian Mountains,” the National Weather Service said.
McDowell County was under a flood warning until 7 p.m. Thursday.
Friday morning’s landslide cut off access between Mitchell and McDowell counties, The McDowell News reported. The N.C. Department of Transportation set up a 90-mile detour requiring northbound drivers “take I-40 West to I-240 West to I-26 West to U.S. 19E east to its intersection with N.C. 226 in Mitchell County,” according to the newspaper. The route can be reversed for drivers heading south.
In the meantime, McDowell County Emergency Management said EMS, the Woodlawn Fire Department and the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office have staged personnel on the other side of the landslide in case of an emergency.
N.C. DOT assistant maintenance engineer Scott Killough said the department is sending equipment and working with the power company to get the road cleared, WLOS reported.
“We estimate that there’s more than 100 dump-truck loads of material that we’ll have to haul away,” he said. “Our goal is to reopen the highway by Sunday morning.”
