After a snowstorm Jan. 3, hundreds of people were trapped overnight on Interstate 95 south of the nation’s capital without supplies of food, water or gas, raising questions about Virginia’s preparedness for this and future disasters. Here are six reasons the situation escalated into 36 hours of misery for motorists.
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How the East Coast’s busiest highway unraveled: 36 hours of confusion and misery on I-95
？ Miscommunication within government: It took the top echelon of Virginia’s government — including former governor Ralph Northam (D) and his transportation secretary, Shannon Valentine — more than 20 hours to realize the depth of the crisis unfolding on I-95.
After major blockages continued from morning through night Monday, Valentine said she learned that the highway was impassible in a call at 4:52 a.m. Tuesday. She got the news to Northam.
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The governor’s office emailed state emergency officials around 11 a.m. Monday “asking them to let us know if/when a [state of emergency] was needed so we could get it done as early in the day as possible,” according to a former Northam administration official.
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The state’s coordinator for emergency management at the time, Curtis Brown, responded that he would. A former Northam official said there “wasn’t further discussion of 95 at the governor’s office level” until Tuesday morning. State officials said no request for an emergency declaration came Monday and there weren’t enough local appeals for assistance to warrant one.
？ Ineffective communication with the public: Officials failed to get clear warnings out widely enough on overhead signs to prevent more motorists from heading into the abyss. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the signs he encountered read “Snow. Proceed with caution” and “Left lane blocked” during his nearly 27-hour journey to Washington.
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There were some detailed warnings, including signs that read: “INCIDENT MM 139 ALL LANES BLOCKED,” using shorthand for “mile marker.” But weather and power outages left an unknown number of signs out of order.
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Agency officials did not convey the dire reality on the ground with the clarity and broad reach that transportation and emergency experts say was needed. A VDOT district tweeted grim updates, but many drivers said they didn’t see them.
The state’s 511 Twitter feed, specifically set up to communicate travel conditions on I-95, did not include reports of hours-long backups in the 48-mile section Monday.
？ Traffic cameras were down: Power outages knocked out traffic cameras along I-95 that highway officials say they needed to pinpoint the worst backups and to understand — and communicate — the scope of the problem. A Virginia Department of Transportation official said “it was difficult for me to communicate as I normally would the exact mile markers and locations and the degree of the backups.”
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To try to get a big-picture view, transportation officials requested a State Police helicopter at 3:45 p.m. Monday. One wasn’t available until the next morning.
？ A complicated storm left the highway untreated: Rain that preceded the sleet and then snow didn’t allow crews to pretreat roads because the brine mixture used to prevent ice would have washed away. State officials said plows and law enforcement couldn’t keep up with the fast-falling snow.
Disabled vehicles blocked lanes. Heavy-duty tow trucks also got stuck. State Police and VDOT crews were overwhelmed as they struggled through the same treacherous obstacles as the motorists they were trying to help.
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？ Unjustified optimism: Some Virginia transportation officials thought backups on I-95, while bad, would get better just as they said happened elsewhere in the state. Major stoppages on I-64 and I-81 had resolved within hours, said VDOT’s chief of maintenance and operations, Kevin Gregg.
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When skies cleared Monday afternoon, a key VDOT district engineer, Marcie Parker, was optimistic: “We were really hoping that the sun was going to work with us, as it usually does, and we would be able to get some of these vehicles moving.” That did not go as she hoped. As temperatures got colder overnight, four inches of ice crusted over a wide swath of highway, further trapping cars and tractor-trailers.
Some drivers, too, thought they could pass through the winter storm. State officials said traffic volumes were particularly high Monday, despite prestorm warnings to stay off the road. One trucker who was stuck for 22 hours said storms “don’t bother me too much … I can get around.”
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？ Emergency aid didn’t reach travelers stranded overnight: Food, water, medical aid and gasoline that experts say should have been provided after eight hours, at most, were never widely distributed to motorists because state emergency officials say they weren’t told help was needed.
Motorists said they felt abandoned. State police said snacks and water that troopers keep for emergencies were “rationed for those greatest in need.” Authorities said the 20 to 30 troopers working along more than 40 miles at any particular time checked on as many people as they could.