North Carolina is still rebuilding after Hurricane Helene‘s devastation, but a key piece of infrastructure partially reopened over the weekend. In the western part of the Tar Heel State, parts of various roadways vital for interstate travel and commerce,

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A stretch of Interstate 40 through the western North Carolina mountains is reopening to traffic this weekend, months after Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding collapsed portions of the road, partially restoring the major travel connection with eastern Tennessee.

I-40 reopened with one lane going in each direction at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line. This comes five months after the interstate was severely damaged during Hurricane Helene.

A major stretch of I-40 that was badly damaged by Hurricane Helene reopened without a hitch. NCDOT spokesperson David Uchimaya said there were "no issues" when two lanes of the interstate near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line opened on Saturday.