Drivers described turning their engines on for a time to heat up, turning them off to conserve fuel, and sharing food and supplies with one another as crews try to clear trucks blocking the way after they were unable to continue in ice and snow. Jim DeFede, a journalist who was driving home to Miami after a holiday visit with family in New York, told CNN''s Jake Tapper that once he stopped, he was stuck for 18 hours. By 11 a.m. Tuesday, Susan Phalen was able to finally start driving her car again on northbound I-95 after being stuck just south of Stafford for nearly 15 hours. "I could have walked home faster than this, pretty much," Phalen told CNN by phone. But the southbound traffic she was passing still was stuck -- "It''s semi truck after semi truck after semi truck ... not even rolling an inch," she said.
Among those stranded in the area: US Sen. Tim Kaine, who said he was still stuck in traffic at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday -- 19 hours after starting his drive. The Virginia Democrat did not specify what road he was on at the time, but a second tweet indicated that at least part of the time -- for hours -- he was stopped on I-95. A family that had departed Florida was walking outside "in the middle of the night handing out oranges" to him and other trapped motorists, he wrote. "I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I''m still not near the Capitol," Kaine tweeted, posting a picture from behind a windshield, showing three trucks ahead. Kaine eventually reached the US Capitol, telling CNN: "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." Motorists expressed frustration on social media as they sat in vehicles on I-95, unable to move and worried about below-freezing overnight and morning temperatures after a storm that dropped more than a foot of snow in the Fredericksburg area and left more than 400,000 customers in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast without power. Also trapped on I-95 overnight was Jennifer Travis, who with her husband and 12-year-old daughter were driving a rental car back to their Virginia home from Florida -- because their return flight had been canceled twice. They were stuck on I-95 for hours early Tuesday -- with enough fuel for heat, but with no water or food. By 10 a.m., the family had been able to take an exit -- but now was driving a road that hadn''t been plowed. Many secondary roads in the region were blocked by downed trees or wintry conditions, authorities said, so even those able to get off I-95 have faced difficult travels. "Trees are down, cars are just everywhere. ... It''s treacherous," Travis told CNN by phone. Phalen -- who had been stuck north of Fredericksburg -- said she left her Fredericksburg home around 8 p.m. Monday for a trip to Alexandria -- which she''d expected to last just an hour. "Because I didn''t have cell phone or internet connection at the house in Fredericksburg, I wasn''t able to see this nightmare I was walking into until I was smack dab in the middle of it, and then it was too late," Phalen said. She said she started with a full tank of gas, and was able to keep her car running for heat. Temperatures in the area dipped into the teens overnight. Authorities closed that 50-mile stretch -- between exit 104 near Ruther Glen and exit 152 near Dumfries -- so workers could remove stopped trucks and treat the road for snow and icing, VDOT said.
Drivers described turning their engines on for a time to heat up, turning them off to conserve fuel, and sharing food and supplies with one another as crews try to clear trucks blocking the way after they were unable to continue in ice and snow.
Jim DeFede, a journalist who was driving home to Miami after a holiday visit with family in New York, told CNN''s Jake Tapper that once he stopped, he was stuck for 18 hours.
By 11 a.m. Tuesday, Susan Phalen was able to finally start driving her car again on northbound I-95 after being stuck just south of Stafford for nearly 15 hours.
"I could have walked home faster than this, pretty much," Phalen told CNN by phone.
But the southbound traffic she was passing still was stuck -- "It''s semi truck after semi truck after semi truck ... not even rolling an inch," she said.
Among those stranded in the area: US Sen. Tim Kaine, who said he was still stuck in traffic at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday -- 19 hours after starting his drive.
The Virginia Democrat did not specify what road he was on at the time, but a second tweet indicated that at least part of the time -- for hours -- he was stopped on I-95. A family that had departed Florida was walking outside "in the middle of the night handing out oranges" to him and other trapped motorists, he wrote.
"I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I''m still not near the Capitol," Kaine tweeted, posting a picture from behind a windshield, showing three trucks ahead.
Kaine eventually reached the US Capitol, telling CNN: "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."
Motorists expressed frustration on social media as they sat in vehicles on I-95, unable to move and worried about below-freezing overnight and morning temperatures after a storm that dropped more than a foot of snow in the Fredericksburg area and left more than 400,000 customers in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast without power.
Also trapped on I-95 overnight was Jennifer Travis, who with her husband and 12-year-old daughter were driving a rental car back to their Virginia home from Florida -- because their return flight had been canceled twice.
They were stuck on I-95 for hours early Tuesday -- with enough fuel for heat, but with no water or food. By 10 a.m., the family had been able to take an exit -- but now was driving a road that hadn''t been plowed.
Many secondary roads in the region were blocked by downed trees or wintry conditions, authorities said, so even those able to get off I-95 have faced difficult travels.
"Trees are down, cars are just everywhere. ... It''s treacherous," Travis told CNN by phone.
Phalen -- who had been stuck north of Fredericksburg -- said she left her Fredericksburg home around 8 p.m. Monday for a trip to Alexandria -- which she''d expected to last just an hour.
"Because I didn''t have cell phone or internet connection at the house in Fredericksburg, I wasn''t able to see this nightmare I was walking into until I was smack dab in the middle of it, and then it was too late," Phalen said.
She said she started with a full tank of gas, and was able to keep her car running for heat. Temperatures in the area dipped into the teens overnight.
Authorities closed that 50-mile stretch -- between exit 104 near Ruther Glen and exit 152 near Dumfries -- so workers could remove stopped trucks and treat the road for snow and icing, VDOT said.
有道理， 赶紧也往我们家车里堆点垃圾去！
呵呵，好问题
那还能怎么解决：开车门路边 。。。
此时食品水和暖气是第一需要，其它就 。。。
堵车的话，下车走到路边草丛里解决就可以了。
这时候就需要当地政府出面组织救援了吧，送水饭和汽油，受对应的开销，毕竟维持秩序和不发生灾难最重要的
路边的 local government 通常不会或没有能力管这事的， interstate highway 有专门的机构管，雪下得突然太猛一时管不过来吧
忘了说，车里便携式potty是必备啊!
这个属于least concerned issue吧。高速，哪不行啊。
对呀。不是有个emergency Lane可以用呀。开个坦克，能前行吧。送水送点快餐。扑克，麻将啥的。
问题一开门都冻僵了……
这个是很难预测的，短途的更会以为刚下点没事。
有此议员堵在路上感同身受，还能帮着联系 DOT 也算不错了
他去DC开会。 雪太猛了，来不及清，95N所有的lane被一辆侧倾的卡车横向给堵死了，然后就成这样了
路边啊，这时候就不要太讲究了吧，
有道理 赶紧准备起来
天啊
好大的雪啊！！
这种情况下
只能在雪地里上厕所了
美国很容易受到寒流的袭击。
没有东西走向的大山。
加拿大 和 美国 很容易被寒流袭击。
最近 美国 部分地区 受寒流 和暴风雪 袭击
大家注意安全啊！！
我的车里也是，就怕万一。羽绒长大衣，sleeping bag都在车里
天气预报说了那天要下9inch的雪，他既然要开会，干嘛不前一天就过去？而且当天一下雪就所有federal government agencies全关门了 人家那些overnight跑长途的大卡车是没办法，他这种就是自己脑抽了
就他，2016年还去竞选副总统😂😂😂
看一下温度的话，不是很冷，是路面结冰以及有事故堵车的问题，然后救援车辆因为路况也不能及时处理。
看这这么大雪
真可怕
最怕冷