Last Helene impacted road in Charlotte area on the verge of fully reopening

CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — North Carolina officials have accounted that more than 700 roads have been reopened across the state which suffered catastrophic damage during Hurricane Helene, however, between 400 and 500 roads remain “closed.”

According to DriveNC.gov , almost all of those roads are up in Western North Carolina, besides a handful in the state’s central region.

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Riverhaven Drive along the Catawba River in Mecklenburg County is among them.

Queen City News crews traveled Riverhaven Drive Monday afternoon and discovered that the “closed” label could soon be changed.

The portion of the road near Hart Road was closed due to the destruction caused by the river when it flooded its banks.

The water not only flooded the first floors of multiple homes, it swallowed three homes and a 50-yard gap in the road near the end of the drive.

While the land where the homes used to be is all but gone, the 50-yard gap has been filled by dirt and rock.

NCDOT said it will be paved with asphalt in the future, while its website lists it as being completed by the end of the month.

At a news conference Monday morning, Gov. Roy Cooper announced it could take upwards of $5 billion to repave, rebuild, and recreate routes throughout the state.

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Gov. Cooper said, “There’s a lot of devastation, however, the terrain and topography of the North Carolina mountains is unique so the investment, particularly to make it more resilient, is going to be greater.”

While families along Riverhaven Dr. are glad to have their road fully restored, they said their eyes are on answers they hope will soon come.

Multiple families told Queen City News Monday that they want to be able to rebuild their lives and restore their homes.

However, they have not been able to get guidance on how to do that.

One of the more specific questions they have is regarding floodplains.

These are determined through several studies by FEMA to determine whether specific lands, structures, or homes are built within a flood zone.

So far, multiple families told Queen City News that a flood zone assessment had not been conducted in their areas since it was consumed by Helene.

Until that happens, they say they don’t have the insight into what a rebuild could or will look like.

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