Hurricane closures pushing hundreds of truckers off I-40 and I-26 onto small North Carolina highway, local firefighters say

The Hiwassee Dam Fire Department (HDFD) is urging the public to have some sympathy for a growing number of truckers who are being routed through the area due to long-term road closures caused by Hurricane Helene.

September’s Hurricane Helene shuttered I-26 and I-40, two vital routes connecting North Carolina and Tennessee. The interstates are both closed indefinitely due to heavy damage to the infrastructure.

As the truckers try to re-route around these closures, they’re finding themselves forced onto smaller highways and into communities that are not used to seeing a high volume of truck traffic.

On October 8, the HDFD out of Murphy, North Carolina, took to social media to inform residents about the trouble that truckers are running into on local roads and asking motorists for patience and attentiveness on the busier roadways.

From HDFD:

Today was a busy one for your Hiwassee Dam Fire Department. We started the day with a flipped box truck in the 8000 block of 294. This had the entire road blocked for several hours. Thanks to folks marking the wreck on Waze and Google maps, a new route was drawn that took the traffic across Candy Mountain Road. Anyone who has driven this road knows at least 1 thing about it, it is no road for 18 wheelers. A semi was routed that way and dropped off the bank in a curve, thus closing a detour route around the first wreck. Eventually all roads were cleared and traffic returned to normal.

Please use extra caution when you are driving Highway 294. GPS has routed trucks this way as a bypass for the disaster areas on I-40 and I-26. Trucks use 294 to Highway 68 in Tennessee then to I75. Slow down, be aware and give a little more room. These truckers would much rather be on I-40 but they cannot and they still have jobs to do and supplies and goods to deliver. There has been over 200 tractor trailers on 294 since midnight and this will probably continue for the next several months. No, the state can not nor will they ban them from running these roads so keep your head in a swivel and be careful out there.

Firefighters went on to urge the public to have some sympathy for the truck drivers using Highway 294.

“These truck drivers are trying to do their job and work around a bad situation. Things are going to happen. Drivers will get more familiar with our roads and some will choose other routes. Right now everyone is trying to figure it out,” HDFD said.