Hurricane Helene recovery efforts impacting Tennessee tourism
FOX 13 Seattle
[{'start': '7.140', 'end': '11.811', 'text': "But crews in East Tennessee are  almost done cleaning up from  Hurricane Helene.  >> Some of the state's rivers  and streams were blocked off by  debris right after that storm.  Asher Red is joining us live  from Dandridge, Tennessee.  Asher, this is really coming  into play just in time for the  summer tourism season.  >> Matt and Hannah, tourism is a  big part of the economy here.  I'm just north of Gatlinburg,  Tennessee, where more than 14  million people take a vacation  every single year. A lot of the  folks who stay in Gatlinburg  come right here to Dandridge,  Tennessee, to fish on Douglas  Lake. The Jefferson County  Tourism Department says that  about 80% of the tourism in the  area comes from fishing. That's  hundreds of thousands of dollars  a year. A lot of fishing  tournaments that were scheduled  immediately after Hurricane  Helene had to be postponed until  this spring. The department says  that put a big dent in last  year's revenue.  >> We have other events, of  course we have festivals. We  have a lot of other things in  Jefferson County, but the lake  is our our bread and butter.  >> The Tennessee Valley  Authority is surveying fish  populations in the reservoir  ahead of peak angler season.  Fewer fish in the lake or fish  with deformities, parasites or  injuries would be red flags  going into spawning season. TVA  says debris is the biggest  impact that might have on these  fish.  >> I think here over the next  few weeks, we'll really be able  to see kind of what, if any,  impacts. There have been, you  know, judging off yesterday  things. Look, you know, within  normal range. We'll see if  that's that's what the complete  data set says or not. So.  >> And cleanup on this lake is  about 90% complete now all for  the rest of all of Tennessee.  We're talking about nearly  4,000,000yd■!T of debris that he  been hauled out of all Tennessee  waterways. That's enough to fill  New York City's Madison Square  Garden 620 times, and still have"}]