Woman drives around 2 sets barricades, dies in 50-foot washout drop

Rescuers extricated woman with ropes

GRAND VIEW, Wis. — Authorities say a woman has died after driving her car around barricades on a washed-out highway in flooded northwestern Wisconsin. 

A Wisconsin Department of Transportation official called 911 around 9:30 a.m. Monday to report the crash on U.S. Highway 63 just north of Grand View. 

The official said the car drove around two sets of “road closed” signs and into the washed-out part of the highway, which goes down about 50 feet. The car came to rest at the bottom of the washout. 

Bayfield County sheriff’s authorities say the woman had to be extricated from her car and brought to the surface using ropes. She was airlifted to a hospital in Duluth, Minnesota, where she died. 

Her name was not immediately released.