Residents along Shell Creek Rd. in Roan Mountain have safety concerns due to remaining damage from Hurricane Helene
ROAN MOUNTAIN, Tenn. (WJHL) – It's been over five months since Hurricane Helene damaged countless roadways in the region, including Shell Creek Road in Roan Mountain. Many residents have safety concerns and are wondering when repairs will start.
Vivian Cordell has lived on Shell Creek Rd. all of her life and said the road's condition is the worst she has ever seen it in.
'I've never seen a hurricane come through here. It's been five months. The road's not fixed. We can't get up and down it. You can get so far. I'm scared. When I go out, I am absolutely scared of the road falling and they're not making much of an effort to fix it.'
Cordell's main concern is safety, as there are parts of the road that are broken off from the flooding that happened during Helene.
'There's a place down the road that the creek is running up and under the pavement. That's dangerous.'
She said school buses have been taking a detour on Morgan Branch Rd. to avoid the damaged culverts.
'I worry about the kids. There's an elderly lady. I worry myself to death about her, about the squad having to come get her and I mean it's been long enough to where they ought've had something done.'
Cordell said she's called Carter County's Road Superintendent Shannon Burchett about her concerns.
'I'd like to see them fix the culverts. The paving, I know that's going to be down the road. It's not going to be any time soon. But the culverts need fixed and where the roads are dangerous needs fixed.'
Burchett told News Channel 11 that four temporary culverts for Shell Creek Rd. have actually been ordered.
'There's two main crossings on Shell Creek that is a little iffy,' Burchett said. 'It's what the public is concerned about. And we are too. It's choked down to one lane. We have them ordered. They told me it would be up to three weeks to get them. We're looking probably in our second week now. They should be, I hope they get here next week.'
Burchett said the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is doing a study of that area and should have a bid out for a contractor in 30 days.
The NRCS is doing site studies of 52 areas in Carter County, according to Burchett.
Burchett said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated Heaton Creek Rd. and Shell Creek Rd. as rapid repair roads.
FEMA also still has to conduct a hydraulic study on Shell Creek to see if they need to upsize any of the pipes in the culverts.
If so, those pipes will be for the permanent ones put in after the temporary ones are taken out.
Burchett is not sure when permanent work will start and be completed. He said that would be up to the contractor's schedule.
'It's been a really really slow process and not really pointing a finger at anybody, but it's just a lot of paperwork to go through with FEMA to try to get the county's reimbursement, because if we don't, then the county is gonna have to foot the bill for all this. And there's no way.'
County workers have put down gravel on parts of Shell Creek that have been washed out, and a sign is in place to warn drivers about the conditions.
'If people have patience, that would be greatly appreciated,' Burchett said. 'Which I know it's hard to understand. If I lived there, I would be the same way, you know 'why you don't have it fixed.' But it's really all got to do with trying to get all our paperwork correct and it just takes time.'
Both Burchett and Cordell urge travelers to drive cautiously on Shell Creek Rd.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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