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

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — 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. Photos of Interstate 40 with multiple lanes washed out by Helene near the Tennessee state line garnered widespread attention after the storm. The Junaluska Community Volunteer Fire Department says emergency workers responded to eastbound Interstate 40 on Saturday night. The fire department says crews rappelled down an embankment to reach the vehicle. The driver, the only person in the vehicle, was extricated and taken to a hospital where she later died.