America’s road warriors have offered spare supplies and additional help to drivers that have been stuck in traffic for more than 24 hours
As truck drivers, keeping an eye out for bad weather and road closures is second nature for Emily Slaughter and Michelle Rusher. But the shipping company New Prime, Inc. As drivers working for the U.S. headed south on Interstate 95 on Tuesday morning, January 4, no radio updates or electronic road signs suggested they were about to imagine the worst traffic jams imaginable. .
Around one or two in the morning, Rusher and Slaughter join a group of cars stuck on the snow-covered, icy roads of northern Virginia. The day before a sudden winter storm covered this stretch of highway outside Washington DC, and many drivers (including US Senator Tim Kaine) were trapped overnight in their cars in freezing temperatures without food or water, gas Were trying to stay warm while conserving. ,
“We are stuck in a traffic jam; We get stuck in traffic jams every day," Slaughter tells Rolling Stone from U.S. Route 1, where he and Rusher were able to reach (though the back-up is just as bad). "But it's the weirdest thing we can do. Definitely stuck. We've been shut down before because of the weather and because of accidents, but I think the longest shutdown I've ever had for an accident was like an hour, maybe an hour and a half."
"I've been locked up in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Wyoming," says Rusher. "Wyoming signed up, Flagstaff put out state troops and they either forced you to stay there, or directed you to the next exit. This, I had no idea."
What caused the chaos, Slaughter puts it bluntly: "They didn't plow or salt the roads efficiently. That's what happened."
I-95 remains closed and the highway is expected to remain open through the end of the day, the Virginia Department of Transportation said Tuesday. In a news release, Marcy Parker, a district engineer at VDOT, said, "We know that many travelers have been stuck on Interstate 95 in our area for an extraordinary amount of time in the past 24 hours, in some cases since Monday morning. This is unprecedented. is, and we continue to move stalled trucks to make progress toward restoring lanes. In addition to clearing trucks, we are treating snow and several inches of snow to ensure that That when the lanes reopen, motorists can proceed to their destinations safely.”
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam told The Washington Post, "It's getting a little warm. The sun is out. I hope we reach these guys today and hopefully by tonight we have Interstate 95 reopening." .
Tera Hulse, a 26-year-old student, got stuck in a traffic jam around 4 pm on Monday. She, her boyfriend, and two dogs moved back home from North Carolina to Washington DC, as ET shows. They stopped at the Fredericksburg welcome center sign (of all things, they were listening to a podcast about the donor party at the time). They also had no clue what they were driving, Hulse noted that the traffic time on his map stood at 30 minutes and the radio announced the closure of most schools. Over the next 10 hours, he pushed his car only a mile, often struggling to keep the Jeep steady on the black ice.
"The Virginia Department of Transportation was sending out tweets like, 'Oh there are emergency people coming to talk to you, they'll give you supplies,'" she says. "We haven't seen anyone."
At about 2 a.m. Tuesday, with only half a tank of gas and a bag of cookies available, Hulse decided to see how reliable his Jeep was. She took the vehicle off the road and not only managed to carve a path for herself, but left a line of cars behind her to follow. The caravan reached the top of a hill near the exit for Woodbridge, Virginia. Despite seeing a lot of open, empty lanes, the police blocked their way. For the next several hours they sat again, first a salt truck arrived and then the police kept the roads clear while a stranded semi-truck tried to free itself. But even after this the problems persisted.
"All the cars behind us were hitchhiking and the police, instead of directing traffic or trying to help anyone, just blocked two lanes, got in their cars and were like, 'Get it,'" Hulse says. “Thankfully we managed to get on the salty roads and the first thing we did was stop at a gas station and use the bathroom because it was six in the morning. We made it back to DC at 7:30 a.m. Done and pretty much just fell into bed."
Isaac Archos, a 23-year-old Marine from North Carolina, got himself into a traffic jam late Monday while driving north to Marine Corps Base in Quantico. He also said that he did not receive any warnings about the disaster ahead, and that he spent the night in his car.
"It was about 18 degrees outside, so after turning off my vehicle, I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up every 30 to 40 minutes so I could restart my vehicle and turn up the heat." I can. Bad insulation," he says: "I have no breakfast. I have bread. That's about it. But at the same time, I'm not really craving anything — I'm going to starve I'm too tired for that."
Like Hals, Archos tried to work his way out of the jam, though he found himself following the tracks of a truck that had gone past him. He could only walk half a mile, however, only his car got stuck in the snow. “So obviously I get a little nervous and I’m going a little crazy in my car like how am I supposed to get out of this, I can’t embarrass myself,” he says. "But then out of nowhere, these two truck drivers get out of the vehicle to help me get back on the road."
With a serious lack of official response to the chaotic traffic jams, the real heroes of the devastation were the ones who know America's roads better than anyone: the truckers. Slaughter was one of several drivers who took to social media to message anyone who needed food, water or blankets to find the nearest trucker, who would almost certainly have extra luggage. Both Hulse and Arcos noted that they saw messages to this effect when checking social media for updates, and Arcos - who helped himself - said he saw truck drivers handing out extra supplies to people in need.
Slaughters says she and Rusher themselves have not been contacted for help, but with traffic still back up, she remains adamant: "The biggest thing I want to reach out to people, please ask the truck drivers Don't be intimidated. I don't want to see anyone getting hurt from the cold or not being able to get food. Please go to the trucker. We have food and water and blankets and phone chargers in abundance when needed."
Rusher echoes the sentiment, and adds some additional asphalt-pusher wisdom: "I'm worried about people who don't have food and water, and they've been sitting since yesterday. This isn't the first time nor the last. There will be times we're in situations like this. If you're in snow and [bad] weather conditions, you already have a spare tire for your car - you should also have water, a blanket, and snacks "
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