TVA's system of dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries has been tested by record flooding from Hurricane Helene, which drenched Western North Carolina and East Tennessee as a tropical storm , washing out interstate lanes and trapping residents as small streams in the Great Smoky Mountains suddenly became raging rivers.

A map from the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows road closures and compromised bridges in East Tennessee. Four days after Hurricane Helene unleashed devastation across parts of rural East Tennessee, emergency officials are switching from rescue ...