A 63-year-old woman, Patricia Mahoney of Southern Pines, North Carolina, died after driving around a barricade and off a hurricane-damaged stretch of Interstate 40 that had been severely eroded by Hurricane Helene.

Officials say a driver has died after going around a barricade on a hurricane-damaged North Carolina highway that became a symbol of Helene’s destruction.

The highway has been shut down since Hurricane Helene's floodwaters swept away extensive sections along the Pigeon River.

A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper tried to stop the who plummeted from the road after driving onto a section damaged by Tropical Storm Helene.