We've seen people unfamiliar with the area (𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠, 𝐏𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 (𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐍) making speculative comments, and passing unverified info as facts with posts and comments in local social media travel groups. This led to a lot of confusion and frustration so hopefully, this will provide some clarity. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 of Sevier County are open for business.
We have even seen fake AI-generated pictures like this one falsely showing that Gatlinburg was flooded. That is an absolute falsehood.
• Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (Sevier Co) businesses, attractions, and restaurants are 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 for business.
• Dollywood is 𝐧𝐨𝐭 flooded
• Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are 𝐧𝐨𝐭 destroyed
• The Little Pigeon River that runs through Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg didn’t overflow its banks.
• An area in northern Sevierville (Sevier Co) had minor flooding from the Douglas Dam water release which has since subsided and residents were able to return.
• The 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 affected area to Sevier County is Cocke County TN which is east of Sevier County and is around Newport, TN (Cocke Co.) which was flooded from a dam overflowing upstream.
• Exit #407 on I-40 is open and there are no issues accessing that exit from either direction.
• At the time of this post 𝐈-𝟒𝟎 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 [𝟒𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬], 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝟒𝟑𝟐 (𝐔𝐒 𝟐𝟓𝐖/𝐔𝐒 𝟕𝟎/𝐔𝐒 𝟒𝟏𝟏) 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝟐𝟎 (𝐔𝐒 𝟐𝟕𝟔) 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚. Please note that this information will change as TNDOT and NCDOT may open additional stretches to the traffic.
• Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Rd from Cherokee NC to Gatlinburg TN) is opened as of Oct 2nd but 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐒𝐌𝐍𝐏 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩-𝐭𝐨-𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
• There are some park roads and trails closed, and you should 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤'𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
• The National Park Service realized their recommendation to reschedule vacations (in Sevier County TN) was not necessary and have updated their posts – 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩-𝐭𝐨-𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨.
• Sevier County TN is almost entirely dependent on tourism and others that support the tourism industry. Many residents of surrounding areas are also employed in Sevier County and 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 (hospitality, restaurants, attractions, and so on).
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝:
The Smokies in both TN and NC had been saturated by rains for days leading up to the remnants of Helene making their way north Helene brought more rains, on top of swollen rivers on the NC side of the Smokies. The NC side of the Smokies took most of the wind and water, and Asheville, NC, and surrounding mountain communities sustained significant, and in many places, catastrophic damage.
𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨
Visit Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville; and patronize every small shop/business you can. Locals employed by these businesses depend on them for their paychecks.
𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 to help affected areas (not a comprehensive list - do your research)
Sevier County https://www.mountaintough.org/donation-center/
Cocke County https://www.empowercockecounty.com/
Samaritan's Purse https://samaritanspurse.org/
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨.