In North Carolina, The road work in Western North Carolina and Tennessee is still going on as teams try to put the pieces back together. Now, local businesses are being asked by state and federal officials to fix up highways that Helene damaged.
“They told us ahead of time that they would need emergency help before the hurricane hit.” Harbin said, “No one knew what level they would need.”
Harbin, Mary Katherine, from Maymead Inc. in Morganton, says that the company is currently working hard on four emergency projects in Tennessee and North Carolina. The company is family-owned and <400 people work there.
“Since the hurricane, our quarry has shipped three times its normal volume every day just to meet the needs of the rebuilding,” Harbin said.,
That stuff was used to fix up roads and slopes that washed away when Helene hit. Highways 105 and NC 88 in North Carolina and 421 in northeastern Tennessee are some of the projects they are working on.
Harbin said, “I would say that we don’t do a lot of road rebuilding in the mountains.” “The ground beneath us is very good, and the roads we drive on every day have rock bases.”
Harbin says that the amount of rebuilding is new and has never been seen before. Even more so since the storm damaged their building in Mountain City.
“Most of the time, we don’t have to build our roads to get to our properties so that the work can be done,” she said.
Every job is important, but getting back into the Baxter factory in North Carolina, which makes more IV fluids than any other plant in the country, maybe the most important. A lot of businesses are working with the state Department of Transportation to get traffic moving again, including Maymead. Harbin says it all comes down to the hard work of the people who do it.
Harbin said, “The Mountaineers of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee are tough, resilient people who work hard and are completely dedicated to our area. We could not do what we’re doing right now without them.”
