a landslide was called in at 9 a.m. with the dispatcher noting that while the slide took out a home, there were no injuries. Multiple smaller landslides have also been called in from around the Maggie Valley area. There was also a call about a house floating down the river with at least one person still in it, although it’s unclear where.
Risks of flooding, high winds, downed trees, landslides and power outages are highest Thursday night into Friday. Peak winds are predicted early-morning Friday. Sustained winds of up to 40 mph are likely with gusts as high as 80 mph. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for the North Carolina-side of the park for tonight into Friday. A high-wind warning was issued for the Tennessee-side of the park beginning Thursday at 8 p.m. through Friday at 8 p.m.
Some park locations have already received 4-5 inches of rainfall since Wednesday ahead of the tropical storm event. Through Friday, another 4-5 inches is predicted on the Tennessee-side and 6-9 inches on the North Carolina-side of the park. A flood watch is expanded to all of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
The Lake Frederick Motorcycle Club was suppose to be in Maggie Valley on Sept 27, 2024, but Hurricane Helene caused the trip to be cancelled. For several days after the hurricane we were unable to contact our hotel, the Comfort Inn, 3282 Soco Rd., Maggie Valley, NC. to cancel our reservations. Still forty days later, we still did not have a clear picture of what had happened in the area. The reports were very sketchie and did not include information about the roads that we were most interested in.
I decided to take a quick trip down to Maggie Valley to check out the situation. I called Tom, who had lived in Maggie Valley for years, and asked him what roads he thought I should check out. He gave me lots of ideas.
I mapped out the roads Tom wanted me to check out. It looked like Hot Springs was on the way to Maggie Valley, so I headed to Hot Springs to find 209.Roger, so glad to hear that you’re going to Maggie Valley to check it out. FYI, Frank and Anne are already staying at the Biltmore as of yesterday. Regarding what to check out: I know through John H. our friend who invited us to his house for dinner on our last trip, that the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Cherokee nation to state 215 that goes up and over the Blue Ridge Parkway is open. Curious to know if 209 to Hot Springs is passable. That’s an excellent fun road. Also whether 215 itself going up and over the mountain to Brevard is passable. Finally if you can find out whether the road through Cherokee to Clingman's Dome is open that would be nice to know. I would expect that will be too much for you to try to ride in such a short period of time, but you should be able to get some good information from the locals there at the motel and at various restaurants where you might eat. Keep me posted. I’m really interested. I'm hoping we can go back in the spring. Ride safe.
- Hot Springs, north end of 209
- On my trip I ran into several areas where only one lane was open and traffic was control with stoplights
Much to my surprise the road was in excellent shape. There was only one place where they were working on a bridge and it was down to one lane with the traffic being controlled by a stoplight. It was around four in the afternoon and there was no sign of workers. When I went to make the map of 209 from Hot Springs to Maggie Valley, google maps would not let me make a route down 209
I guess, because it was suppose to be closed. It must have just been opened and google didn't know it. Highway 209 is open and in good shape. A beautiful ride.After checking in I had planned having a margarita and eating at our favorite nearby Mexican restaurant Guayabitos while watching the mountain goats up on the mountain, but they were not open on Wednesday
I did have ice cream next to Jelly Bellie's- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Yes, I took this picture!! It doesn't look real, does it?
After assimulating all I could of the beautiful views from Clingman's Dome, I needed gas, so I made the short ride into Gatlinburg, TN. Up until this point I had all the roads to myself. Gatlinburg was full of people and the traffic was horrible. I think the majority of them were headed to Cingman's Dome. I was glad to get my gas and get out of there.
It wasn't on Tom's list, but I couldn't come to Maggie Valley without riding the Tail of the Dragon and this was a good way to go through the town of Cherokee, which was on my assigned list. The Dragon had been resurfaced since the last time I rode it and it was in perfect shape. I had it all to myself in both directions.
- The "TREE OF SAME"
The last road I needed to check out was 215 from Waynesboro, up over the mountain to Brevard. This was the only bad road I encountered. Starting at the north end heading south it runs along the river. This small little creek must have become a major river and destroyed everything in its path, houses, cars, barns and left nothing but uprooted trees and rocks. This was the worst I had seen so far and it was only about 5 miles. From here on there were three or four washouts, where the water coming off the mountain was so strong it completely washed out the road. The road was open and passible but it was gravel for 100 or so feet.
- This is where the water came from that washed out the road