As the summer crawls closer to the peak of hurricane season, several national parks across the Southeast are still recovering from previous storms – and hoping this year gives them a break.
"We are very concerned about subsequent weather events that could further damage areas that are still recovering and/or were compromised from Helene," said Ann Simonelli, communications director for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
While most of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail has reopened since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and ripped through the Southeast last year, further repairs are ongoing. And damage has left some spots more vulnerable to erosion and flooding.
Simonelli said the landscape has changed so dramatically in some spots that no one can predict how it might react in a major flood, wind or storm event.
"We just don't know yet because it's so new for us," she said.
Heavy rain in June provided a glimpse. The weather damaged some of the trail in the Davenport Gap area, along the border with North Carolina and Tennessee, shut down a portion of Interstate 40, and resulted in the temporary closure of Standing Bear Farm Hostel.
"Even what feels like short storms, not these big hurricanes, but very intense, quick and they kind of rush through, can cause damage to the trail, to the infrastructure, to access points, to the hostels, and the trailheads that could take time and resources to repair," Simonelli said.
Repairs Ongoing At Several Parks
The Appalachian Trail isn't alone. Several North Carolina sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which includes many trail access points, are still closed due to damage from Helene. Some visitor centers and campgrounds also remain closed.
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, also in North Carolina, is only partially reopened after Helene.
Damage to Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys dates back to Hurricane Irma in 2017, and was exacerbated by Hurricane Ian in 2022 and other storms since. Currently, the moat wall around Fort Jefferson, the park's main attraction, is closed for repairs until at least the fall of 2026.
About 200 miles to the north, De Soto National Memorial in Bradenton, Florida, took a double hit last year from Helene and Milton.
“Both hurricanes did do what I can describe as catastrophic damage to the park," lead ranger Daniel Stephens said.
The site sits on a spit of land in the Manatee River, near where Tampa Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico. Helene flooded the park's visitor center with both seawater and water from backed up sewage, Stephens said.
“Then Milton comes in and we had several possible tornadoes touch down in the park destroying trees," he said. "It destroyed probably close to about 70 percent of our trails, scouring it down to bedrock.”
The trails are repaired and open, but the visitor center remains closed with no timeline for rebuilding.
National Park Service headquarters didn't respond to a request for more information on hurricane repairs and preparation at specific parks or in general.
Staff Cuts Aren't Helping
The Park Service's workforce has shrunk by about 25 percent since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Stephens said his site used to have 10 employees. Now there are five, with about a half dozen volunteers.
Simonelli said cuts are impacting rebuilding efforts on the AT.
"The actual Park Service staff that are assigned to the Appalachian Trail prior to this year was 10 people, and it's now down to eight people," she said.
But cuts have also happened at other federal agencies that help run and maintain the trail, including the U.S. Forest Service. Simonelli said staffing issues could also be affecting the offices in those agencies that approve trail projects and construction.
"So there's definitely been a slowdown and there's been projects that have had to pause related to Helene, whether it's with natural resource stewardship or invasive species or actual trail repairs, that we are still waiting either for the funding or for the procedural clearances to move forward," Simonelli said. "So yes, we have definitely felt some obstructions in our efforts."
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