CHARLOTTE, N.C. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit western North Carolina on Thursday as the region continues to recover from Hurricane Helene.
Buttigieg will be joined by Gov. Roy Cooper as they tour damage and recovery efforts in Asheville and along Interstate 40 near the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Buttiegieg and Cooper are expected to visit local communities and speak with officials to ensure mountain communities are getting what they need from state and federal agencies.
So far, the U.S. Department of Transportation has directed $100 million in emergency relief funds to help rebuild North Carolina roads.
Cooper and Buttigieg are scheduled to visit Asheville and Canton during Thursday's tour. They'll meet with NCDOT officials to get an update on I-40 repairs. Buttigieg told WCNC Charlotte that a portion of I-40 that fell into the Pigeon River near Tennessee will be closed for "months at a minimum." A stretch of I-26 in east Tennessee was washed away a few miles from the North Carolina border, shutting down two major highways into Asheville.
Buttigieg is also scheduled to meet with Tennessee DOT officials about their efforts to reopen a portion of the interstate that collapsed during Helene.