Maryville, TN - A Sunday morning rock slide in Blount County has shut down all lanes of a portion of Highway 129 known as "The Dragon."
According to Yvette Martinez with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the south and northbound lanes of U.S. 129/State Route 115 are closed.
The rock slide occurred two miles south of Chilhowee Dam.
Martinez said several large boulders fell from the mountainside around 9:30 a.m.
10 News photojournalist Jerry Owens was called to the rock slide just after it occurred. While he was shooting video of the slide, a car coming around a curve became distracted and did not notice the debris covering the roadway until it was too late.
"I didn't even notice that rock fall right there," said driver Andy Edmonds. "I'm lucky to have hit it in a way to not get too hurt. My dog here, she probably took a pretty good hit, but she's alright."
Watch the video and hear Edmond's reaction to getting caught on camera driving into the rocks.
Edmonds and his dog Maybelle were not injured.
The car crash added to what was already an unforgettable scene for resident George Blevins. Blevins said he was out getting his morning paper when the slide hit.
"It just started coming and dust was going everywhere," said Blevins. "It was a bad slide. You could hear it come across the road and hit the guard rail. I've seen a few other slides but this one sounded like a hurricane. It's going to block the road a while because it will be harder to clean out than it looks. There are some big stones in there."
TDOT crews have detoured traffic and will remain on scene to monitor the slide. Engineers were also on site to determine what steps need to be taken to stabilize and clear the slide.
TDOT has posted signs encouraging drivers to find an alternate route.
Jonathan Ball from Great Britain was traveling on Hwy. 129 because of detours around other rock slides in Tennessee.
"We were avoiding the rock slide on U.S. 64 coming out of Cleveland. Now we're coming down this route and it is another rock slide. Your country is falling apart," laughed Ball.
As of this report, TDOT has not provided any estimates for when the road may reopen.
