Storm strands hundreds of I-5 motorists
05:16 PM PST on Monday, December 29, 2003
ASHLAND, Ore. -- Police used snowmobiles to bring food, gas and water to hundreds of stranded drivers Monday after a fierce snowstorm closed nearly 150 miles of Interstate 5 in California and Oregon.
The northbound lanes of Interstate 5 on the Siskiyou Pass reopened at 4 p.m., following a 19-hour closure. The southbound I-5 lanes will remain closed as emergency crews continue to clear the roadway. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the Oregon State Police estimated the southbound lanes will reopen by 8 p.m., depending on weather and traffic conditions.
Heavy snow covers Interstate 5 about one mile north of the Siskiyou Summit. (ODOT traffic camera) |
"We have people with children, with medication needs, people who are on oxygen and did not bring an extra tank," said Jared Castle, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.
"I understand that everyone is cold, wet and tired," Castle said. "We've got crews working around the clock, and we have snowdrifts that are up to 5 or 6 feet in some areas."
"We just had unusually heavy holiday traffic," said John Vial, Oregon Department of Transportation district manager. "The call made to shut it down wasn't made in time. Those are tough decisions. We are not going to get all of them right."
On the California side of the border, stranded motorists were on their way by 12:30 p.m. Monday, and that there were no injuries or accidents to report, said Sgt. Don Jordan of the California Highway Patrol.
The California stretch of the freeway was expected to open by evening, Jordan said.
The National Weather Service said as much as 2 feet of snow had fallen along Interstate 5, which was shut down from Redding, Calif., to Ashland.
Police dealt with dozens of minor accidents after vehicles spun out of control on the icy roads. Oregon State Police Lt. Kurt Barthel said a 57-year-old man died of a heart attack while he was trying to help other drivers put chains on their tires.
Families stuck on the highway were being urged to remain in their cars, and to use their cell phones only in case of emergency. Many of them had been stranded since Sunday.
Hope Peelle, of Puyallup, Wash., said she borrowed water from another driver to make formula for her 9-month-old daughter, and kept the bottle warm with her body heat. She and her husband, Victor Vega, were on their way home from visiting relatives in Ontario, Calif. The family filled up their digital camera with snow pictures, and turned the heater on intermittently to keep warm.
"I can tell you this: I'm flying next time," Vega said.
Trucker Dave Strong had been on the highway since Sunday evening.
"A car slid out in front of us, and stopped, and that was the end of that story," Strong said.
Sandra Palmer, manager of the Amerihost Inn in Yreka, Calif., said she had to walk a mile in 3 feet of snow to reach work before dawn Monday because she couldn't get her car out of her garage.
"It took me an hour and a half to get to work," she said. "It's horrible when you're walking in the snow."
Elsewhere in Oregon, Pendleton received about 6 inches of snow -- the most the city has seen in one single storm in nearly a decade. Portland got a dusting during the morning rush hour, causing traffic tie-ups across the metro area, but by early afternoon the sun was shining.
About 42,000 Portland General Electric GE customers were without power at the height of the outage and traffic was snarled after 6 inches of snow fell. 18,000 PGE customers were without power as of Monday evening.