RICHMOND, VA. — Hundreds of motorists waited desperately for help Tuesday after a winter storm snarled traffic in Virginia and left some drivers stranded for nearly 24 hours in freezing temperatures along an impassable stretch of interstate south of the nation’s capital.
Problems began Monday morning when a truck jackknifed on Interstate 95, the main north-south highway along the East Coast, triggering a swift chain reaction as other vehicles lost control, state police said. Lanes in both directions became blocked across a 40-mile stretch of I-95 north of Richmond. As hours passed and night fell, motorists posted messages on social media about running out of fuel, food and water.
Drivers have 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.
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.
The interstate, a major East Coast artery, should be cleared of vehicles sometime Tuesday and in time for Wednesday morning's rush hour, said Marcie Parker, a district engineer with the state transportation department.
Virginia agencies have moved a "nice amount of traffic" off the interstate and the process is going more quickly than anticipated, she added.
Some vehicles that were stuck had as many as 4 inches of ice under them.
Live updates: Drivers trapped for hours on I-95
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.
She left Fredericksburg, she said, because her home lost power, and she also lost cell phone service there.
"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.
"A lot of people ... in the vicinity where I am have been turning their cars off to save gas, and then they'll turn the car back on to heat it up a bit," she told CNN by phone.
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.
In the jammed stretches, workers are trying to guide motorists to nearby interchanges, VDOT said.