Emergency crews on Tuesday afternoon freed the last of hundreds of drivers stranded by a snowstorm on Interstate 95 in Virginia, after more than 24 shivering hours of watching gas gauges drop, rationing food and water and holding out for any kind of help.
A 40-mile stretch of the highway — one of the busiest travel corridors in the United States — came to a standstill overnight after a fast-falling snowstorm led to jackknifed tractor-trailers and hundreds of other accidents. Some people abandoned their cars. Many, including a U.S. senator, spent the night on the snowy highway.
As people spent a sleepless night in driver’s seats and truck cabs, state troopers slowly trudged from person to person, helping when they could with supplies. Tow trucks dragged car after disabled car out of the ice.
INITIAL REPORT:
Both sides of Interstate 95 in Virginia remain blocked amid snow and ice after an overnight shutdown stranded cars and trucks for 48 miles south of Washington, leaving motorists stuck for 24 hours – and counting
Transportation officials said there were multiple crashes, some involving jackknifed tractor-trailers, as motorists – many without food or water – became increasingly frustrated at what they said was a lack of help during a long, freezing night in their cars. The Virginia Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to questions about the closure Tuesday.
In a tweet, the agency said: “We are working to get traffic moving again as best we can using every available interchange between Prince William & Caroline counties.” Motorists with an emergency should stay in their vehicles and call 911, VDOT said.
The Fredericksburg area received about 12 inches of snow Monday, and officials gave no exact time for when the highway would reopen. VDOT said traffic is being detoured to the nearest interchanges to use alternate roads.
“This is unprecedented, and we continue to steadily move stopped trucks to make progress toward restoring lanes,” Marcie Parker, a district engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said in a news release Tuesday morning.
Incoming Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, called on officials to deploy the Virginia National Guard to help rescue those stranded, calling the situation “untenable.”
“Travelers are trapped – some for nearly 24 hours,” Gilbert said in a statement. “But now isn’t the time to place blame for what went wrong. It’s time to get help to those in need.”
The mess along I-95 – one of the nation’s busiest highways – resulted from a winter storm Monday that walloped the D.C. region and parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S., triggering power outages and resulting in the closure of government agencies, schools and coronavirus testing centers. Some areas in the D.C. region saw up to 12 inches of snowfall.
