‘Get off the Roads!’ National Guard Called to Help Over 100 Vehicles Stuck in the Snow on North Carolina Highway
What started as a minor crash between a semi-truck and a Jeep quickly snowballed on Interstate 85 in North Carolina this past weekend. Things eventually got so bad that the National Guard had to be called in to help free over 100 vehicles that got stuck in the snow.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported at least 30 semi-trucks and more than 70 cars ended up stuck in the snow near Exit 60 for Dale Earnhardt Boulevard in Kannapolis. It took emergency personnel nearly five hours to fully clear the scene and reopen the highway.
Freezing temperatures and nearly nine inches of snow caught many North Carolina drivers unprepared
“I’m down here on Lane Street, right here at the hospital. That’s a tractor-trailer. That’s a tractor-trailer all the way up past the QT. As far as I can see, dead, stand still,” trucker Chic Suggs said, describing the scene toWSOC News.
The North Carolina National Guard told ABC 11 News that officials called in assistance from two All-Hazard Response Teams, which included six vehicles from the Army and Air National Guard. Crews from the North Carolina Department of Transportation Incident Management Assistance Patrol also helped remove stranded motorists.
“Please heed our warnings. Shelter in place! Get off the roads!” Kannapolis Fire and Police wrote in a post on Facebook. “Streets are impassable. Too many people think they can drive in this weather, and they cannot.”
North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported troopers responded to 817 calls for service and 750 collisions between 12 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
