By Chantal Da Silva -
NBC News
Hundreds of drivers were trapped for hours in freezing temperatures on a 50-mile stretch of I-95 in Virginia, due to heavy snowfall and an accident that ended up blocking already difficult traffic.
One of those affected was Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, who said he had been stuck for at least 19 hours.
A line of cars blocked by heavy snow falling on a section of I-95 in Virginia since January 3, 2022.
"I started my normal two-hour trip to [Washington) DC at 1pm yesterday [Monday]. 19 hours later, I'm still not near the Capitol," he wrote Tuesday morning on his Twitter account.
[Follow these recommendations to prevent road accidents during the winter season]
Kaine said his office was in contact with the Virginia Department of Transportation "to see how to help others in this situation."
"Please stay safe everyone," he asked.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said he is working to ease the situation on I-95 and rescue drivers.
"State and local emergency personnel continue to clear downed trees, assist disabled vehicles and divert drivers," he said in a message on Twitter.
"An emergency message was sent to all stranded drivers to connect them with support and the state is working with localities to open shelters as needed," he added, while urging avoiding the affected interstate.
Seb Lancaster, a 21-year-old film student at Boston University, was on his way to visit his father in Connecticut with his twin sister, her boyfriend, and their dog when they hit the highway and found themselves stuck, causing them forced to spend the night inside the vehicle.
[Two children are crushed to death by trees after heavy rains and winds in Georgia and Tennessee]
"My parents are immunocompromised and I assumed that road trips would be safer than flights due to omicron," he explained, referring to the wave of infections unleashed by this highly communicable variant of COVID-19.
Lancaster said he got into the traffic jam just after 3 p.m. ET Monday, when there was "a little bit of movement for a while" that allowed drivers to move forward.
Intense snow paralyzes a part of the northeast of the country and causes the closure of the Government
Jan. 3, 202201: 45
However, around 11 pm the traffic was "paralyzed", leaving him and his companions blocked.
Like a scene from
La La Land
, but in winter
"Just after midnight the street was packed like the
La La Land
flashmob
,
" he
revealed, referring to the opening scene of the film starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in which hundreds of drivers get out of their cars stuck on a highway. of the Angels.
"It was much bleaker, though, with people crying, smoking, walking their children and pets, and asking for supplies."
"The cars are stuck, the trees are down, there are miles of vehicles parked irregularly scattered around the huge piles of ice to avoid getting stuck, making it impossible for any real emergency effort to reach us," he described in a statement. series of messages on Twitter.
A resident of the District of Columbia cruises a street on skis to face the heavy snowfall of January 3, 2022.Susan Walsh / AP
Anne Gould, another stranded traveler, also alluded to a chaotic scene: "There are cars and trucks as far as I can see behind me, and in front of me, and it has been like that for 12 hours," she told NBC Washington channel early Tuesday morning. .
Gould was heading to Florida when traffic stopped hopelessly Monday afternoon.
According to the news station he was listening to, he said traffic had barely moved a few feet Tuesday around 6:20 a.m.
[The winter storm that hits the eastern US leaves at least five dead and multiple accidents]
While some motorists abandoned their vehicles, others faced an even more desperate situation, running out of gas, food or water.
Others disclosed that they were taking children and pets inside their vehicles as they struggled through the snowstorm, NBC Washington reported.
Chaos erupted when all southbound lanes of I-95 were closed at Mile 136, near Centreport Parkway, after a crash involving multiple cars at noon Monday.
On video: President Biden faces heavy snow as he steps off Air Force One
Jan. 3, 202200: 24
No one was injured, but the collision caused delays and the heavy snow that continued to fall further delayed the recovery of traffic, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The agency acknowledged on Twitter that the situation was "frustrating and terrifying."
"We would like to have an estimated time of arrival or an idea on when traffic will resume on I-95," he said, "It is at a standstill in our area with multiple incidents.
"Please know that our crews are not stopping. They will work 24/7 until ALL state-maintained roads are safe to travel," he promised.
The National Weather Service warned that ice sheets could be "especially problematic" on untreated highways from Tennessee to Maryland after heavy snowfall.
While drivers were stuck on the interstate, residents also had to cope with blackouts that left more than 400,000 customers from Georgia to Maryland without power on Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.US.
300,000 outages were recorded in Virginia alone.
