If you’ve been paying attention here you will recall some photos of the Little Wrecked Campground alongside Jonathan Creek, where Fox Run road terminates at U. S. 276, halfway between Maggie Valley and Waynesville, NC. Only mud splattered remnants remain, leaving local admirers to wonder if they will ever be hauled to the landfill. It is one of many rather unsightly scenes still visible in this part of the country, a scene created early one Friday morning in September. That would be the day the storms of hurricane Helene came roaring. Not even a few hours later, Jonathan Creek itself came roaring, carrying more whitewater downstream than has ever been seen by human beings.
By the time the waters receded they had annihilated the campground and every camper and RV present, as well as a few vehicles and the office building that had been equipped with an upstairs apartment. About a dozen battered camper carcasses now lie in state, a rather gruesome testament to the mighty power of moving water. At least two campers will never be seen again. They were shredded into tiny pieces as they passed beneath the Fox Run road bridge, and contiued onward, north into Tennessee.
That was then. Pictured below is now. One of the greater tragedies to befall this neighborhood during the great flood of 2024 is the fact that the creek did not rise another fifteen feet, at which point it would have removed the pile of junk in the photo, not that the residents of Newport, TN, would have approved. The photo depicts a homestead, of sorts, a godawful conglomeration of very poor afterthoughts. (The trash is not visible. They are inside the RV, along with a dog that never ceases barking.)
I live more than half a mile further up the mountain, so I have to see this mess only when hurriedly zooming by in my Japanese truck. But I know the road well enough now to keep my eyes closed as I do.
Footnote: This was once the site of the Fox Run road boatyard. The guy inside the RV had docked his cabin cruiser here while making some upgrades to the vessel. Those upgrades included a new cabin built of plywood and corrugated tin. I’ve often wondered whether he went to the trouble of replacing the missing inboard/outboard machinery before dragging the boat away and setting sail into the moonlight.
So sad. Another day another crisis another non-reclaimable mess that no one has the money or the ability to clean it up. I just read that there are currently so many fires in Florida that the road to the Keys has been closed. One man was on television who wanted to visit his son in a Key West hospital. Without a highway, the man flew to be with his son. I'm afraid we will be seeing many more problems like this.