The vacant Riverview Farm & Garden storefront in Canton — a business battered by floodwaters four times in the past two decades — was a fitting assembly point when Mayor

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined North Carolina Roy Cooper Tuesday to provide an update on infrastructure being rebuilt following Hurricane Helene.

The Governor also discussed restoring parts of I-40 and other federal roads that remain closed in the wake of Helene, saying that “rebuilding transportation in a more resilient way in western North Carolina is going to be the key to making sure that this community,

Sections of I-40 and I-26 have been closed for weeks following severe flooding caused by Helene and on Oct. 17 U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was in east tennessee to assess the damage.