An Effingham County woman died Monday night following a crash on I-16.

Barbara Jean Blake, 63, of Rincon, was declared dead at the hospital after the 8:19 p.m. crash, and James Emanuel Stephens, 38, of Savannah remains in critical condition at Memorial University Medical Center following the one-car accident.

According to the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, they were in a white 2009 Nissan Altima traveling east on Interstate 16 at a speed deemed excessive during a thunderstorm. The Nissan left the interstate onto the 37th Street exit, went out of control and struck a guard rail on the left side of the roadway.

The car rode up the guard rail as it elevated from the ground, sending the car airborne into the tree line and down an embankment. Neither occupant was wearing a seat belt.

The Major Accident Investigation Team of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department continues to investigate and study their events leading up to the crash.