Haywood County officials are urging people to not ignore ‘Road Closed’ signage after a driver went around a blockage on I-40 near Tennessee and drove off the interstate and into the Pigeon River Gorge.

Tropical Storm Helene washed out multiple sections of Interstate 40, but that didn’t stop one motorist from bypassing a road block to try it anyway, according investigators in North Carolina. The gamble ended badly, with the driver discovering too late that the asphalt — and mountainside that held it up — were gone.

A driver was rescued Saturday night after their vehicle ran off the road of Interstate 40 in Haywood County. According to the Junaluska Community Volunteer Fire Department, shortly after 8 p.m., officials received a notification that a vehicle had traveled off Interstate 40 Eastbound near mile marker 3.

A driver died Saturday after, authorities say, she drove around the barricades on a section of Interstate 40 closed near the North Carolina-Tennessee line. According to the Janaluska Community Volunteer Fire Department,