NCDOT says it may take months to fully clear mountain roads of mud, debris after landslides

Some of Western North Carolina's major roads are still a mess after heavy downpours caused several landslides.

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A rockslide closed a stretch of Interstate 40 about seven miles from the Tennessee state line Friday night and the road is still completely flooded with thick mud and debris.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation said it will take months to fully clean up the mess after nine straight days of rain.

DOT engineers said they would haul away about 2,000 truckloads of dirt and rocks.

"We have a pretty good idea of where the fault line is, where it's starting to slide. As long as we stay behind that and off of that, we feel pretty comfortable," said engineer Ted Adams.

[ALSO READ: Ongoing landslide keeps North Carolina highway closed]

Channel 9's Dave Faherty learned boulders the size of wheelbarrows tumbled down the mountainside during the rockslide and damaged eight vehicles.

Drivers are concerned about being rerouted more than 150 miles around the slide, which is about an hour out of the way.

"It is a long way to go around. It really is a long way to go around, but these things happen in life," said a driver.

[ALSO READ: North Carolina budget includes revival of landslide mapping program]

According to officials, I-40 will most likely be closed until Friday, but there will still be lane closures in the area once it's open.

“This project here -- they’re going to scale and scrape away the debris,” said David Uchiyama with the NCDOT. “That’s a lot of what is happening today.”

No injuries were reported.

Cox Media Group