Damage from Helene hampers travel from Carolinas to Tenn.

(WSPA) – With multiple roads destroyed, travel from the Carolinas to Tennessee could require a detour through Virginia.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is asking drivers heading to Tennessee to take Interstate 77 north to Wytheville, Virginia before taking Interstate 81 south into Tennessee.

Interstates 40 and 26 are both closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene.

In Tennessee, the Interstate 26 bridge over the Nolichucky River in Unicoi County was destroyed.

Tennessee Department of Transportation officials said they anticipate hundreds of million of dollars in damage and months of closures.

In North Carolina, a section of I-40 near mile marker four was washed out by the Pigeon River.

It is not known how long that stretch of I-40 will be closed.

One route through the mountains reopened Wednesday morning.

The National Park Service said U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road reopened Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.

Commercial vehicles are not allowed on U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation said U.S. 129 is open between Highway 411 and the North Carolina state line, according to Nexstar station WATE. That road does not allow trucks with trailers over 30 feet in length or any single vehicles over 30 feet in length.

North Carolina officials are still asking drivers to avoid western North Carolina as access remains limited to just local and hurricane response traffic.

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