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    Blue Ridge Parkway to be closed indefinitely, National Park Service says

    By Alix MartichouxDoug Coats,

    8 hours ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0C2KKb_0vus9Hjl00

    NORTH CAROLINA ( WJZY ) — The country’s most-visited national park site , Blue Ridge Parkway, will remain closed indefinitely, the National Park Service said Wednesday.

    The closure affects the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, though some parts were hit harder than others by storm damage. It comes right as the region and scenic road typically see a boom in tourism, as weather cools and the leaves change colors.

    National park officials said the closure will be in place as crews continue their initial assessment of the damage from Tropical Storm Helene. The 469-mile scenic road starts at the Shenandoah National Park and ends at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Parkway winds through the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and North Carolina, two states that suffered serious flooding and storm damage.

    North Carolina is distributing Benadryl and EpiPens as yellow jackets swarm from Helene flooding
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1481iY_0vus9Hjl00
    A photo shared by the National Park Service shows tree clearing efforts on the Blue Ridge Parkway. (Photo: NPS)

    Rescue operations were ongoing nearly a week after the storm barreled through the region. The efforts were especially challenging in the mountains of North Carolina, where remote communities were hard to reach with all the washed out roads. The death toll across the Southeast topped 200 on Thursday, and hundreds were still reported missing.

    Initially, two sections of the Parkway were closed ahead of the storm, but the full length was shut down on Saturday.

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    The National Park Service said it has activated an incident management team, which is assessing damage and stabilizing park resources.

    There is no scheduled date for reopening any parts of the road.

    Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com.

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