Gen 4 door handle gasket exposed wire

My wife's south Texas Prius was recently covered with ice and snow for a few days (it was the least of our worries, as we had no power, limited water, and temps down to 9 F.). When I went outside and pulled on the driver's door handle, the little ice that was left cracked easily and the door opened. What surprised me was that with the handle pulled out, I could see a black gasket of sorts attached to the door, an opening in the middle of it, and a unprotected small copper wire. This may be completely normal--I don't drive this car much, and I've never really looked under the handle--but it seemed odd, especially that wire, and I wondered if perhaps the ice made a couple of parts pull apart that shouldn't be? I've never noticed that sort of thing on my other cars. Then again, the Prius isn't like my other cars. I don't have any gen 4 Priuses nearby, and I wondered if anyone here can tell me if the layout in the attached photo looks normal. Again, the door opens fine and the keyless entry works, too. Thanks!

 

OK, this was really weird...It was actually wedged into that little slotted piece, and when I took needle nose pliers to it, it came out. It was some sort of metal wire, not copper though, not connected to anything. Thanks for the suggestion! I should have tried this from the beginning but was being too cautious.

 

Thanks for the photo! Seems like an opening that could cause a problem at some point, but perhaps not. I'm glad to see a photo that looks just like mine after removing that wire.