VA Officials Say Massive Gridlock On I-95 May Be Clear Before Wednesday AM Rush Hour

VIRGINIA – Authorities in Virginia say a massive gridlock that has stranded thousands of drivers may be clear before rush hour Wednesday morning. Traffic first came to a halt Monday morning on a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95, after multiple trucks crashed during a major winter storm that packed the road with 14 inches of snow.

The backup left drivers stranded for more than 24 hours. Officials helped get people out Tuesday afternoon, but not before many drivers ran out of gas in the freezing temperatures. Others didn’t have food or water. Driver Theresa Sykes says, “7-11’s closed. There’s no fuel. You know my heart goes out to the young lady, got her 2-year-old baby. She has no food.” Driver Issac Arcos says, “I had to conserve my gas to stay warm. I would turn off my car every maybe hour and turn it back on every 15 minutes that I could, I’d have it on conserving the heat.”

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was among the thousands of drivers stranded. He says he left for the U.S. Capitol around 1 PM Tuesday afternoon and arrived about 27 hours later. He described the experience as anything but boring. Kaine says, “It was kind of a survival challenge.” He also says, “I had a limited amount of gas. How do you keep yourself warm? You have to figure out the strategy, and it’s like, turn on the heater full blast, heat the car up, turn it off, and then try to catch some sleep, in about 20 or 30 minutes it gets so cold in the car, then you have to do it again.”

Kaine said he had only eaten one orange since Sunday night, given to him by a Connecticut family who were on their way back from Florida.

Officials say only abandoned cars are left blocking the highway as on Tuesday night.

Our question of the night: what would you do if you were stuck on a highway for 24 hours?

This episode’s panel features:
WCCB TV’s Morgan Fogarty
WCCB News @ Ten anchor Drew Bollea
WCCB News Edge contributor Tremaine “QCB” Sloan