Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina

Date:

Share post:


WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A driver has died after going around a barricade on a hurricane-damaged North Carolina highway that became a symbol of Helene’s destruction, then driving off the roadway, officials said.

Photos of Interstate 40 with multiple lanes washed out by Helene near the Tennessee state line garnered widespread attention in the days after the storm as the region was largely cut off by numerous road closures.

Emergency workers from Tennessee and North Carolina responded to a report of a crash involving a vehicle that went off the collapsed road and down an embankment on eastbound I-40 on Saturday night, according to a news release from the Junaluska Community Volunteer Fire Department.

Crews rappelled down the embankment to reach the vehicle on its side about 100 feet (30 meters) from the road, the fire department said. Images from the scene show a worker trying to reach the crumpled, white vehicle at the bottom of a steep, rubble-covered slope. The driver, the only person in the vehicle, was extricated and taken to a hospital.

The driver, identified as Patricia Mahoney, 63, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, died later that night, according to Sgt. Brandon Miller of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the cause of the crash. She got on the highway around the 7-mile marker, headed westbound in eastbound lanes and went off the road around the 4-mile marker where the road ends. An autopsy is scheduled. There’s no indication of why she went around the barricade, Miller said.

The highway has been closed since late September when flood waters from Hurricane Helene washed away the interstate’s eastbound lanes in four long swaths along the Pigeon River, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation has said it expects to reopen one lane in each direction by the new year.



Source link

Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams is a writer and editor. Angeles. She writes about politics, art, and culture for LinkDaddy News.

Recent posts

Related articles

Here's What the Latest Science Tells Us About Ivermectin

EARLY IN THE Covid pandemic, some medicines got reputations for potentially being able to treat the virus,...

Deadly bomb cyclone hits Pacific Northwest, bringing high winds and devastating damage

At least two people have died after a bomb cyclone slammed into the Pacific Northwest, snapping tree...

Weekend storm dishes another brutal blast of winter to the Prairies

There's no easing into winter across the Prairies this week, as back-to-back storm systems bring plunging temperatures,...

Winter Weather Advisory issued for parts of area; Latest track, timing, impacts for snow

Snow showers are likely on Thursday for the snowflakes of the season.The National Weather Service has issued...

Russia says new US base in Poland raises overall nuclear danger

MOSCOW/WARSAW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that a new U.S. ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland...

North Carolina GOP lawmakers vote to strip incoming Democratic leaders' powers

North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to strip the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of key...

Twin Cities roads 'glare ice,' local sheriff advises limited travel

Snow coupled with temps dipping below freezing has led to very slippery road conditions in Minnesota, namely...

Missing Hawaii woman’s family alarmed over new info: ‘She’s not alone’

HONOLULU (KHON2) — It has been nine days since Hannah Kobayashi’s cell phone was last located at...