National Guard never called to help those stranded on Interstate 95

[Updated 8:50 p.m.] Today, Virginia leaders faced tough questions about why the National Guard was not mobilized to help drivers stranded on Interstate 95 for 24 hours.

Just after 8 a.m. Monday, January 3, just as a massive snowstorm ramped up, state police troopers began receiving calls for help on the highway near Fredericksburg. Tractor-trailers crashed, stranding thousands of drivers for most of the day.

At 4 a.m. today, the Virginia Department of Transportation closed a 53-mile stretch of the highway between Dumfries and Ruther Glen, near Kings Dominion. The agency gave the order to remove stranded cars on the road, adding it is impossible to know how many drivers or cars became stranded on the highway.

The job fell onto the backs of state and local law enforcement, and fire and rescue crews, and two-truck drivers.

“We had troopers going car to car to check on people,” said Geller. Earlier today, we learned Prince William County fire and rescue crews worked to distribute meals to stranded drivers on the highway. At the same time, Stafford County officials declared Stafford Senior High School an emergency shelter for those who didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Gov. Ralph Northam must decide to activate the troops, explained Geller on an 11:30 a.m. press call. Northam did not participate, and he never called for help from the National Guard.

“Virginia National Guard personnel have day jobs, and it takes at least 12 to 24 hours to mobilize them,” said Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Lauren Opett.

I-95, a federal highway, is managed by the state. However, Opett said local jurisdictions and their governments are responsible for assessing treacherous highway conditions and calling for help from the National Guard.

Such requests are filtered through Opett’s agency, and it’s possible one jurisdiction in the affected area called for help. However, Opett did not know which one at the time of the press call.

“At this time, the event is being handled at the local level with the support of state agencies,” Opett added. “It has not exceeded the capacity for them to respond.”

The snow fell heavier and faster than VDOT anticipated, said Marcy Parker, an administrator who headed the agency’s response to the debacle. “Two inches an hour over five hours… it was too much to keep up with,” said Parker.

Parker expects it will take the rest of the day to clear stranded and abandoned vehicles from the road. Afterward, Parker said brigades of trucks called plow trains would move into the area, break up the ice, allowing the agency to reopen a portion of the most heavily traveled road in the state.

VDOT did not pre-treat the roads with a salt brine mix before the storm. “The storm started as rain, and all of the pre-treatment would have been washed off the roads.”

Geller said there were no reports of crashes between Dumfries and Ruther Glen when the highway was closed early this morning despite the massive delays.

In Prince William County, police told drivers to get off the highway at the closest exit and use alternative routes.
Drivers on secondary and side streets also experienced delays as ice and snow led to problems and tree closures.

On Monday, more than a foot of snow fell portions of Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Prince William counties. In addition to crippling roadways, the storm closed local schools and government offices.

On Thursday, forecasters say up to three additional inches of snow could fall across the region.