Motorists who’d been stuck on I-75 in Kentucky finally got to roll again Saturday, but people were still stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Claire Jackson, 17, told CNN on Saturday morning that her bus had been at an “absolute standstill” on the turnpike since 8 p.m. Friday.
“I just see cars,” said Jackson, who was with about 50 students going from Washington home to Kansas City, Missouri. “All the hazards are blinking.”
Also stuck on the turnpike overnight: A bus carrying the Duquesne University men’s basketball team, on the road after Friday afternoon’s victory against George Mason in Virginia.
Photos that the team posted to Twitter showed senior forward Nick Foschia making a snow angel in the road and a line of vehicles stranded on the highway
Head coach Jim Ferry told CNN some of the players went to another bus stuck beside them to talk to a group of eighth-graders.
“They’re almost using it as a team-building experience,” he said, referring to being stuck.
At a press conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said the turnpike problem was between Bedford and Somerset.
Fire and rescue crews have checked on all stranded motorists to make sure they had food, water and gas. Shelters were being opened for people who need further assistance, he said.
Wolf urged all motorists to stay off the road. If they don’t, he may institute a travel ban, as other governors have done. “We need everybody in Pennsylvania to exercise self-restraint,” he said.
The governor said other sections of the state are not reporting serious problems, but warned that the snow may get worse.
“It’s coming down at a really amazing rate, 2-3 inches an hour at some places,” he said.
National Guard sent to West Virginia
National Guard members were dispatched in West Virginia to help move stuck tractor trailers that blocked a roughly 11-mile stretch of Interstate 77 north of Charleston.
The West Virginia department of transportation Facebook page said Saturday morning that one lane was open for traffic as crews worked to clear the road.
I-75 reopens in Kentucky
In Kentucky, I-75 reopened to traffic Saturday morning. Hundreds of motorists had been stuck for as many as 19 hours along a hilly 35-mile stretch of I-75 in central Kentucky because of the snowstorm.
Motorists talked about long waits to move.
April Gilliam-Montesinos said she braked her car to a halt at 1 p.m. Friday, with vehicles snaked ahead of and behind her. She, her father and her two daughters — ages 4 and 14 — huddled in the car overnight, with no food and water.
She used Twitter to ask state police for help.
“They sent an officer out here, but he didn’t know what he was coming out here for, so he didn’t bring anything with him,” Gilliam-Montesinos said. “So he actually gave my dad his own snacks so my dad’s blood sugar wouldn’t drop.”
The jam finally relented after 8 a.m. Saturday, she said, and the family drove off — 19 hours after they first stopped.
State and local police, firefighters, and Red Cross workers traversed the stretch, trying to deliver supplies, while National Guard troops helped remove crashed or abandoned vehicles to get traffic moving, state police Trooper Kendra Wilson said.
