Cocke County mayor gives update on Helene debris cleanup [Video]

COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis spoke with WVLT News on Tuesday, giving an update on the specifics around removing debris from Hurricane Helene.

“It’s easy to think of this as debris, but it’s so much more than that,” Mathis said. “This is people’s homes.”

It has been just more than two months since the storm hit the county, but Mathis said there is still a lot of work to be done.

“We have got to get all this stuff cleaned up before people can properly start that rebuild process,” Mathis said. “You have to get rid of all the old before you can begin with the new.”

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) crews are cleaning up debris along state and county roads. Giant debris piles split between man-made and vegetation, sit in Newport. Mathis said the large piles are just a small percentage of what …