On Tuesday, Jan. 4 a traffic jam on I-95 came to a dead stop and barely moved for 24 hours. Heavy snowfall caused vehicles to crash and slip off the road causing the bottleneck situation. Many drivers were stranded with no gas or food in freezing temperatures.

   The traffic came to a halt at 9 a.m and by 12 p.m noon, it had hardly moved. People with medical needs and those who had children and pets with them were stranded and many ran out of water, food and gas. No injuries were reported. With traffic not moving tow trucks were unable to get to the mangled and stuck trailers. The situation went downhill. Both directions of I-95 were shut down between Ruther Glen and  Caroline County. The backup stretched for nearly 50 miles through Fredericksburg VA. The governor deployed the national guard to help the stranded drivers.

   A mother told NBC Washington, “I just kept thinking they’re gonna die in this cold,” she said Tuesday on the verge of tears. “It was freezing. My daughters’ cheeks were so cold.” Virginia state police were working nonstop to help people who were stranded to try to get them to move on secondary roads. The number of vehicles that were broken down, stuck in the snow and out of gas made it difficult to clear the highway. 

   The following day, federal agencies opened on a three-hour delay option. The U.S Office of personal management said, “Employees should plan to arrive for work no more than three hours later than normal.” The region was under a snow emergency until 7 a.m. on Jan. 5 Crews were supposed to work into Tuesday night, clearing roads at school and residential areas affected by the backup.