A woman died Monday after driving past barricades on a flood-damaged highway in Bayfield County and plunging about 50 feet into a washout.
According to the Bayfield County Sheriff's Office, a Wisconsin Department of Transportation official assessing damage to the washout on U.S. Highway 63 just north of Grand View called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. to report a car had been driven around the road-closed barricade at Raymond Avenue in Grand View, and then another set of barricades about a half-mile closer to the washout.
The vehicle continued north until it was driven into the washed-out portion of the road, coming to rest on the bottom next to a culvert, about 50 feet down. The road had washed out after heavy rain a week ago.
The victim was extricated from her vehicle and brought to the surface with ropes and then taken by helicopter to St. Luke's hospital in Duluth, where she died from her injuries, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The victim's name was not released pending the notification of relatives.
