Blue Ridge Parkway

According to a small business survey, 93 percent of the businesses impacted by Helene have since reopened, but economic uncertainty and the lingering government shutdown are blocking the road to full recovery.

Citizen volunteers confirmed that the scenic drive is open from Virginia down to Linville Falls without interruption.

The National Park Service has also reopened about four miles of the Parkway in the Bamboo Gap area near Boone following damage from Helene.

The stretch had been closed due to a landslide and debris from Helene.

After road work was set to close large sections over the next several months, an agreement was reached to delay the shutdown until after tourist season ends in the fall.

Six months after Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina, roughly one-third of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed, but the National Parks Service has begun projects to repair the damage.

The National Parks Service recently recognized the F.W. Woolworth Building and Blue Ridge Parkway as National Historic Landmarks.

The National Park Service has announced that several more sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway have reopened after sustaining damage from Helene.

A portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Blowing Rock area has been reopened to traffic.

Appalachian State University biologist Howard Neufeld, says peak times for the Boone area are on schedule for mid-October. Closer to the Triad, Pilot Mountain should be at its most showy the first week of November.