Watch: I-40 mudslide triggered by Helene nearly takes out couple in Blue Ridge Mountains
Dashcam footage from Alan and Kelly Keffer shows the moment the hillside gave way and smothered the lanes of Interstate 40 near Old Fort, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
'Whoa!': Mudslide triggered by Helene nearly takes out couple driving in North Carolina
Dashcam footage shot on Friday morning shows the moment a couple barely escaped a mudslide that came crashing onto an interstate in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. (Courtesy: Alan Keffer via Storyful)
OLD FORT, N.C. – A couple driving along a western North Carolina interstate barely missed getting swallowed by a mudslide that came crashing down just behind their car Friday evening in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Dashcam footage from Alan and Kelly Keffer shows the moment the hillside gave way and smothered the lanes of Interstate 40 near Old Fort, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Looped video of the mudslide. (Alan Keffer via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Through the rear view camera, a few semi-trucks and smaller vehicles can be seen farther away from the Keffers’ vehicle, while others are spotted parked on the side of the road.
Then, within seconds, rocks and earthen debris crash onto the interstate. Debris can be seen flying higher than the semis nearby, and the cement barrier seen on the side of the road was effortlessly pushed away by the mudslide.
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"Whoa!" Alan could be heard saying off-camera.
The front view camera shows mud splattering the windshield, and the vehicle could be heard revving up and speeding away from the mudslide.
Mud splattered onto the windshield. (Alan Keffer via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Local reports say the couple was not injured. Officials closed part of the interstate because of the mudslide – one of several closures along I-40 in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
Observation sites throughout the western part of the state reported between one and two feet of rainfall, causing roadways to washout and towns to be flooded. The Asheville area saw approximately four months’ worth of rain in three days due to remnants of Hurricane Helene.