The Tennessee Department of Transportation is hard at work clearing a rockslide on I-40 in Cocke County that was caused from recent flooding and they have an estimate of what it will cost to clean-up and repair damage.

TDOT Chief Engineer Will Reed spoke alongside Deputy Governor Butch Eley yesterday (Thursday) and says it is estimated half a million dollars worth of damage was done on I-40 near the North Carolina state line.

Engineers are working to assess the damage caused by four mudslides on that stretch of interstate.

There’s a tentative two-week goal for getting the interstate back open.

State Rep. Jeremy Faison, who represents Tennessee’s 11th district, which includes Cocke County, said in a Thursday Facebook post that the damage was more extensive than initially thought.

“Significant impacts have been identified on both the interstate and the ramps,” Faison said. “As of this morning, several areas remain under water, and there are potentially compromised slopes. Geotechnical engineers are on-site today to assess the stability of those slopes.” Faison is urging people to come to Cocke County and enjoy rafting to help with the county’s economy and help these businesses who just reopened after Hurricane Helene damaged this area last year.

Nagi has said drivers should avoid taking I-40 into North Carolina and instead take I-81 North to I-26 East.

“We’re stressing the importance to folks to stay out of this area,” Nagi said. “There is no travel between Tennessee and North Carolina at the present time.”

Cocke County Emergency Management ***AFTER ACTION REPORT***

On June 18, 2025 at 3:36 pm, I received a message and photograph from Karen Chambers (Chief River Safety Officer) at the Waterville Road “Put In” that rain had been falling for almost two hours and was beginning to pool up in the parking area where River Safety Officers direct the launching of commercial and private boaters onto The Pigeon River. For the next hour, run off from the mountain had made the situation increasingly concerning.

At 4:34 pm I directed the Cocke County Swift Water Rescue Team to report to The Emergency Operations Center, to gear up and be ready to roll to the Hartford Area. The biggest concern at that time was commercial and private rafters currently on rafting trips.

Captain Walter Cross (Whiskey 1) proceeded directly to Hartford to assess and advise.

At 4:51 pm Cocke County E-911 had received 911 calls from people on I-40 whose vehicles had been overcome by flood water. Cocke County SWR immediately went enroute along with the Cocke County Fire Department , carrying their waterproof extrication equipment.

Within a few minutes a 911 call came in from a family trapped in their home on Green Corner Road. I requested Newport City Fire/Swift Water Rescue to respond with a boat and operators. Also activated were Rescuers from the Newport Rescue Squad.

While half of the county’s water rescue assets were headed towards the interstate, the other half headed to Green Corner Road. Response time to both locations was less that 10 minutes.

Rescuers on the interstate were cut off at MM 450. There were three passenger vehicles 3/4 under water and all persons were out of those vehicles. More reports came in of 20 or more people in or on top of their vehicles near the state line.

Rescuers for Green Corner were met with the same issue. A washed-out road and flood waters kept them from advancing with the vehicles and equipment they had in tow.

So, what do you do when you don’t know what to do? You call The SWAT TEAM!

I reached out to Captain Jonathan Ochs (CC/Newport SWAT Commander) and requested the MRAP. Captain Ochs proceeded with haste to the Green Corner location, picked up CC SWR Operators and navigated a route to get to the trapped family of 6.

On the interstate, TDOT had responded in force and began moving the concrete barriers and flooded vehicles so the I-40 rescue team could reach the people stranded at the state line.

While all this was going on:

–Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis arrived on scene at the I-40 Command Post.

-Casey Kelley (Assistant Director of Cocke County Schools) escorted busses to Hartford and staged at the Hartford Citgo to transport interstate refugees to Newport.

–C.J. Ball Sheriff of Cocke County, Chief Deputy Doug Atkins, and a host of Deputies waited for flood waters to recede to transport people from the interstate to awaiting busses.

-Cocke County Macie Reed Elected Property Assessor, rounded up dinner for the evacuees and delivered it to the Cocke County Sheriff Office.

-The Red Cross reached out to provide assistance with temporary accommodations and financial support to the victims.

–Grassy Fork Volunteer Fire & Rescue had their members bring up cases of water to everyone who had been stuck on the interstate.

-The Newport Rescue Squad, Grassy Fork Fire, and SWR Operators under the command of Captain Zach Holt (Romeo 1) who had gathered at Grassy Fork Station 2 for immediate response staging began responding to all of the 911 calls that came in.

-Cosby Volunteer Fire Department took up positions west of the incident and turned back vehicles to keep them from adding to the traffic tie up and aleviating these vehicle occupants of waiting unnecessarily .

Once TDOT had cleared the interstate enough to pass MM 450, SWR Operators proceeded to the state line where Newport City SWR under the command of Captain Jonas Clevenger launched a rescue raft and cleared 4 passenger vehicles and a tractor trailer that were covered by flood water.

In the end, there was no loss of life or injury to any citizen or Emergency Responder. There was no damage or loss of equipment. Government, Rescue, and School System personnel in Cocke County did what they always do; Work in a spirit of trust and cooperation to preserve life, property, and agriculture.

Special thanks to our Tennessee State Troopers who always arrive in numbers to work with county and city rescue agencies.

Big shout out to our E-911 Dispatchers who once again handled this incident with grace, professionalism, and clear communications to operators in the field.

Side Note: The new flood barrier rock wall constructed by P & J with financial assistance from TEMA worked exactly as intended and Freeman Park received no damage from rising flood waters.

-Director Joe Esway