The snowstorm is over but the travel misery is not: drivers on a major highway outside Washington reported yesterday that they have been stuck in their cars for almost a day.
One of the frustrated travellers was a US senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, who got stranded driving back to Washington as Interstate 95 clogged with snow and spun-out cars, and eventually shut down because of Monday’s monster snowfall.
“I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol,” Kaine tweeted yesterday morning.
“My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation,” he said, referring to the state department of transportation. “Please stay safe everyone.”
Social media was flooded with posts from desperate drivers trapped for hours in their cars in freezing weather.
“We have been stuck here for 10+ hours we have dogs and have to go to the bathroom plus we need gas. No hotels around are open,” one driver tweeted.
Another driver told local TV station WUSA9 that she left her home about 90 minutes south of Washington when the power went out and started driving north, and did not know about the highway nightmare until she became stuck in it.
“I’m fine, I’m tired,” said the driver, whose name was not given. “I didn’t expect to be awake at this hour, and I didn’t expect to be outside in the snow in gridlock traffic ... all things considered, things could be worse.”
Monday’s storm packed an unexpectedly fierce punch and appeared to have caught much of the capital city off guard, temporarily stranding US President Joe Biden on Air Force One and dumping up to 9” (23cm) of snow on Washington – and more in parts of Virginia.
It further snarled transport hit by flight cancellations and a record surge in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases.
Virginia’s department of transportation said it has never seen such a mess on Interstate 95, although it gave no estimate of how many drivers were affected.
“Our crews are actively working to get everyone off 95. Plans are underway to guide vehicles currently stopped on the interstate to nearby interchanges, where they can access alternate routes,” the agency wrote said in a Twitter message.
“We know many travellers have been stuck on Interstate 95 in our region for extraordinary periods of time over the past 24 hours, in some cases since Monday morning,” department engineer Marcie Parker said. “This is unprecedented, and we continue to steadily move stopped trucks to make progress toward restoring lanes.”