{"id":1190005,"date":"2022-01-05T09:19:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T14:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1190005"},"modified":"2022-01-05T09:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T14:20:04","slug":"incredibly-unusual-event-virginia-officials-surprised-heavy-winter-snow-led-to-i-95-gridlock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/incredibly-unusual-event-virginia-officials-surprised-heavy-winter-snow-led-to-i-95-gridlock\/","title":{"rendered":"&#039;Incredibly Unusual Event&#039; &#8212; Virginia Officials Surprised Heavy Winter Snow Led to I-95 Gridlock"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fincredibly-unusual-event-virginia-officials-surprised-heavy-winter-snow-led-to-i-95-gridlock%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1190005&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Virginia officials said Tuesday night they were surprised by the ferocity of the \u201cincredibly unusual\u201d weather event that saw hundreds of vehicles trapped on Interstate 95 over the past 48-hours.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of motorists were left stranded in their vehicles, some for more than 12 hours, on the I-95 in Virginia following heavy snow and ice blockages \u2013 with some motorists calling it&nbsp;\u201cthe longest traffic jam\u201d they\u2019d been in, as Breitbart News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/04\/heavy-snow-in-virginia-strands-hundreds-of-drivers-on-i-95-in-freezing-temperatures\/\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Virginia\u2019s Governor&nbsp;Ralph Northam (D) described the event as \u201cincredibly unusual\u201d and defended his decision not to send in the National Guard to assist clearance teams, suggesting it wouldn\u2019t have helped the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all need to be clear that this was an incredibly unusual event,\u201d Northam said at a news conference, adding he could understand drivers\u2019 \u201cfrustration and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19365842\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362789817.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19365842\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362789817-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>In an aerial view, traffic creeps along Virginia Highway 1 after being diverted away from I-95 after it was closed due to a winter storm on January 04, 2022 near Fredericksburg in Stafford County, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>AP <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/business-media-social-media-richmond-storms-040c91e71486e363f7d2e4f95e124b47\">reports<\/a> he added the issue facing state crews was not a lack of manpower but the difficulty of getting workers and equipment through the snow and ice to where they needed to be. He further pleaded a state of emergency, which would typically be declared hours or days before an event to create extra flexibility in responding, would have done no good.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Motorists first began experiencing problems on Monday night when the snow storm hit overall resulting in the Fredricksburg area in Virginia receiving at least 14 inches of snow.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/business-media-social-media-richmond-storms-040c91e71486e363f7d2e4f95e124b47\">report<\/a>&nbsp;the preliminary cause of the traffic jam was when a truck&nbsp;jack-knifed on Interstate 95 between Richmond and Washington on Monday morning. This reportedly created a chain reaction of drivers braking and losing control of their vehicles due to icy conditions.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Great success. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h28OpGRaTU\">https:\/\/t.co\/h28OpGRaTU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nHynIMP9vw\">pic.twitter.com\/nHynIMP9vw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eric Matheny \ud83c\udf99 (@EricMMatheny) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricMMatheny\/status\/1478504591507570697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The extreme weather also resulted in further delays as it caused trucks stuck in traffic to break down on the motorway with The Virginia Department of Transportation office (VDOT) in Fredericksburg <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VaDOTFRED\/status\/1478231726661025796?s=20\">reporting<\/a>&nbsp;the traffic was \u201cblocked near exit 136 (Centreport Pkwy.) area due to struck\/disabled trucks\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>There were also reports other trucks had jack-knifed on the road due to icy conditions which prevented snowplows from clearing the road faster.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The interstate 95 was briefly closed&nbsp;between exit 152 (Dumfries) and exit 104 (Carmel Church), roughly a 50 mile stretch, to allow for officials to remove broken down vehicles.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19365866\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362763105.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19365866\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362763105-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A salt and plow truck sits abandoned after sliding off the road in icy conditions on January 04, 2022 in Stafford County, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_19365894\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362762971.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19365894\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1362762971-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Fallen trees and abandoned vehicles stand next to the road after sliding off in icy conditions on January 04, 2022 in Stafford County, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Officials claimed that they were unable to prepare for the storm by pretreating the road with salt and chemicals as it the storm had begun with rain so would have washed these preventative measures away.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly Hannon, a spokeswoman for the transportation department, apologised to motorists for the mass delays and said the department would take an \u201cexhaustive look\u201d into what had occurred.<\/p>\n<p>There have been no reports of any fatalities or major injuries as a result of the storm on I-95 as of yet. However, sadly three people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/us\/articles\/2022-01-04\/police-3-killed-after-suv-crashes-into-back-of-snow-plow\">died<\/a> in a crash in Maryland on Monday evening after a SUV four passengers crashed into the back of a snow plough on Route 29. When authorities arrived, Two women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene, with the fourth passenger being seriously injured. The snowplow driver is reportedly uninjured.<\/p>\n<p>Some 270,000 customers were also left without power on Tuesday afternoon from Georgia to Maryland, due to power outages caused by the storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia officials said Tuesday night they were surprised by the ferocity of the \u201cincredibly unusual\u201d weather event that saw hundreds of vehicles trapped on Interstate 95 over the past 48-hours. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1190005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1190005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1190005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1190005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1190005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}