Rafting season in Cocke County brings chance to kickstart economy after Helene

Yahoo

28-03-2025

HARTFORD, Tenn. (WATE) — The Cocke County community is rebuilding six months since the area was devastated by Hurricane Helene. As a major attraction in the area, rafting companies, like Ober Mountain Whitewater Rafting, are among those getting back on their feet.
'As a community, everybody came together. It didn't matter if we were competitors or not. Everybody was helping everyone and that made a huge impact, I think, on where we are today and the progress is being made,' said Ober Rafting operations director Lacy Bramlett.
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Bramlett said of the 11 rafting companies in the area, most sustained some kind of damage from Helene.
'Typically in a three-month season, we're seeing roughly 200,000 tourists coming to this area to go whitewater rafting, so the rehabilitation of our community and our business models is super important to the local and state economy,' she said.
As a major economic driver for the area, she said many companies sprang into action after the hurricane knowing they would only have a few months to be back on their feet.
'The progress has been made has been tremendous, but there's still some to go. Interstate 40 is open, but now that adds traffic and things like that to the dynamic of taking a rafting trip,' Bramlett said. 'Those are all things that we're navigating on a daily basis, and we're just moving along as quickly and swiftly as we can while also making sure our guest experience is top notch.'
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While she told 6 News some companies have already started their rafting tours, Ober still has a few more months until they open. However this year, even for annual rafters, the experience will be brand-new.
'To be in love with something like whitewater rafting, to be kind of your niche in the world and your passion, it's really interesting to watch something you love so much change everything around you, but it really showed the power of water,' said Bramlett. 'It made huge topographical changes, all the way from western North Carolina to here, and it's a historic event that most people are referring to as a thousand year flood because of the topography and geological changes that happened, during that event.'
She said because of those changes the waterways will look and feel different this year, but they will still have family-friendly rafting. By employing nearly 400 people each summer, she also added that not only will the company help bring tourism back, but it will also help the families here in Cocke County.
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Ober Mountain Whitewater Rafting will open on May 24.
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