Virginia brought in the new year with a horrific truck accident on a portion of Interstate 95 that runs through the state. The event occurred on Monday morning after a big-rig accident and vehicles stalling in the freezing temperatures.
Lanes in both directions became blocked across forty miles on the highway. Snow was falling around two inches a mile. The accident left hundreds of people stranded on the highway in freezing cold temperatures for nearly thirty hours.
Susan Phalen fretted as she spent no time sleeping and was without food and water. Meera Rao and her husband were located only one-hundred feet past an exit but could not move for sixteen hours.
Seb Lancaster, a twenty-one-year-old student at Boston University said that he was on his way to visit his father in Connecticut with his sister when they were trapped on the interstate.
“My parents are immunocompromised and I assumed road travel would be safer than omicron (COVID-19 Variant) flights,” he said.
He was frustrated as there was a lack of communication from transportation officials.
“I’m two and a half hours on hold to speak to a representative for any information,” Lancaster continued. “I’ve seen one emergency worker…who when asked for information said, ‘Does it look like I know?'”
However, Governor Ralph Northam reported that his team provided emergency messages to connected drivers with fast responders who could help by providing shelters.
On Tuesday, the Virginia transportation department removed the disabled vehicles and the big rigs that created traffic on the northbound and southbound roadways from Exit 104 to Exit 152.