1000 Cars Stranded (Madison WI)

[CatholicEdHead]

Source: WMTV, NBC 15

Updated Wednesday --- February 6, 2008 -- 9:30pm

About 1,000 cars are stuck on the I-90 interstate between Madison and Janesville.

Our own Evrod Cassimy has been stranded on the Interstate since 11:30 Wednesday morning.

Evrod says traffic has started to move at around 9:30pm Wednesday night. He does stress the traffic is moving slowly.

Many of the motorists were stranded for almost 10 hours.

The Dane County Sheriff's Office says the Wisconsin National Guard has been activated to assist stranded motorists.

Read more: http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/15381096.html

---

This is in the Madison Wisconsin area, 1000 cars in the westbound lanes of I-90/39 just south of Madison to the Dane/Rock county border.

At this point gas and battery power are running out. The area has received at least 12in of snow today. The backups are caused by jackknifed semis.

[htuttle]

1. I watched the Day After Tomorrow last night

...and I lived part of it today.

Bad day in Madison...

[JPZenger]

2. Had a similar situation in PA. Last Year

Last February, there was a similar situation in southeastern PA on I-78. There were about 1,000 people stuck on the highway for 30 hours. The highway was covered in ice, and the tractor-trailers couldn't get any traction. The maintenance trucks couldn't get through because there were so many vehicles on the road. It was the coldest day of the year, and people were running out of gas. It was in a rural area with very few businesses nearby and many miles between exits. Unfortunately, the State Police hadn't closed the entrances to the highway, so more and more people kept getting stuck. The National Guard had to be called out to deliver food and blankets in Humvees. Even after the highway was cleared of vehicles, it took 2 days to remove all the ice.

[bbgrunt]

3. it's closer to 20 inches here. I heard on

a tv newscast that it was like the 2nd or 3rd biggest 1 day snow total in Madison. Now the drifting has started.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Here in Minneapolis, we have no precipitation

:shrug:

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Nor in Eau Claire, 90 mi. east of you.

It was a clear, sunny day. We got maybe 6" snow on Monday, but nothing significant since. KOW

[gristy]

5. This makes no sense

Why were there not trucks plowing the median within an hour so those folks could get turned around?

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Not particularly familiar with Wisconsin winters, I would guess.

[gristy]

14. You guessed wrong

Guess again! :)

[dysfunctional press]

27. not particularly familiar with I-90 in wisconsin, anyway. it would seem.

nt.

[cynthia]

15. not all medians are navigable

Some are deep ditches for drainage, others are wooded. The scary part of driving on the interstate in heavy snow is that you can't see the edge of the road. Where there is no guard rail, you can drive right off into the median which may mean you end up in a ditch.

[countmyvote4real]

8. And it was almost 70 degrees in NYC today, Feb 6th.

Our weather is crazy.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. It's a good idea to keep emergency blankets and water in your car...

to be prepared for things like this.

I hope everybody gets home safely...

[safeinOhio]

10. a coffee can

and a few candles. Makes a great little heater for the car.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Great idea!

We always keep a coffee can in the car for restroom/car sickness emergencies, too.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Coffee comes in cans?

Since when???

:shrug:

:evilgrin:

[Jackpine Radical]

23. Redneck coffee still does.

Not that I'd expect any latte-loving liberals on DU to have any familiarity with that fact. :evilgrin:

[crikkett]

24. liberal coffee comes in waxed paper or styrofoam - or those plastic to go cups

not quite environmentally friendly

[mcscajun]

11. Damnation, that's horrible.

BRR!!!

I can recall a trip home from work many years ago (when I was much younger, and that day, certainly stupid) in a blizzard. Took me nine hours to make a trip that should have taken 45 minutes.* Even just a few years ago, I was stuck in a weather-related backup on I-80 in NJ and spent some harrowing time watching my gas gauge dropping and making cell phone calls until things got moving.

*If I had it to do over, I'd have stayed put or found a hotel somewhere.

That said, you never know how fast these things can trap you, foresight and planning don't always answer, and sometimes even the plows and sand trucks have troubles. It pays to carry winter emergency supplies in your car (some stuff in the glove box, some in the back seat, little in the trunk as you might not really want to get out to open your trunk.) You never know when you'll need it.

Outerwear: Boots, hat, coat, gloves - spare warm clothing as well; if you do have to leave your car briefly and you get soaked, wet clothing is a danger. You need to get dry to prevent hypothermia. so a towel wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

jumper cables
kitty litter for traction
shovel
ice scraper and brush
blanket/sleeping bag
chocolate candy, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit
water
quarters
whistle
flashlight

And keep your gas tank full. :hi:

[NJCher]

17. thanks MsCajun

I copied your list and am going to make it up for both our cars.

I would add: load your iPod up with videos and movies. A magazine or two and your cellphone can add further amusement.



Cher

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. One more thing for your list: Heater Meals.

http://www.heatermeals.com/

You can buy them at most Truck Stops. They have a long shelf life, are self contained and actually quite good.

Essentially the civilian MRE. When I used to drive 18 wheelers over the road, I always carried 2 or 3 with me as well as (at least) a gallon of water, along with other items like extra blankets, etc. I always had extra clothes with me regardless of the season.

One more thing. Large - gallon size - ZipLock bags. They come in handy for a lot of things, both mentionable and unmentionable. If you need somewhere to put something and outside is not an option, they are perfect. (No, I never had to use on for that purpose, but still, better to be prepared, eh?)

Being stuck for 9 or maybe 12 hours probably won't be life threatening. Being stuck for 24 hours could be and that sort of thing is not unheard of.

[mcscajun]

25. Live and learn. Not having a long hauler in the family, I'd never heard

of Heater Meals.

Added to the list! :hi:

Good call on the BIG ZipLock bags, too.

[Connonym]

16. I'm still waiting to hear from a friend who had to make that commute

I'm just hoping he was too tired to return my call when he got home. We don't get storms like this all that often but I really think that it's in the best interests of everyone if there was a legal mandate that would require nonessential jobs to be canceled when the weather gets like this. Roads should be closed to nonemergency traffic and businesses shouldn't be allowed to penalize employees for not making it to work. There was plenty of advance warning for this particular storm. There's no possible way for plows and salt trucks to keep up with snow when it falls that fast. Yeah we Wisconsinites are made of tough stuff but we should stop thinking that we're invincible against the damned snow.

[LeftHander]

18. Dumbshits....

There have been three major pileups in the Madison area in the past few months and now we have all these people on the road during a WINTER STORM WARNING!...

16 plus inches predicted. I sorry if you are dumb enough to press on as conditions worsen when you are already driving INTO a storm then I have no symapthy.

[4dsc]

19. I second your emotion

WTF are these dumbassas doing out on the roads with that much snow?? Are they blind and stupid??

[eowyn_of_rohan]

26. Supposedly a major factor here was semi-trucks that jack-knifed

As stupid as everyone else was in CARS, to go out in this, WTF were semis doing out there? I am sick to my ears of semis road behavior: Driving too fast for conditions, following too closely , intimidating people in cars, etc. Cops had to wake semi-drivers up today - they were asleep in their beds, while others in cars didnt have that luxury. They cause and / or are involved in a disproportionate number of highway accidents and yet seem to be beyond reproach.

[lutefisk]

21. It's good to see the National Guard used in a way they should be

I think they probably feel the same way...

More pictures and news:

http://www.madison.com/

[sarcasmo]

22. People couldn't get up hills here in Western Michigan.

The roads were so icy that they just couldn't make it up the hill and would get stuck. My friend called it a Human Cluster Fuck, and he was right. I drove Taxi in it for 8hours and said forget it and went home before the afternoon rush, it was a nightmare.