then, about 30 seconds later I had to stop 
Posted on 02/11/2008 7:31:52 AM PST by Born Conservative
HAZLETON -- Snow squalls and whiteout conditions in the Hazleton area brought Interstate 81 traffic to a halt for more than four hours Sunday when dozens of vehicles were involved in a massive chain-reaction crash that left one Maryland woman dead.
Rescue crews work to clean up the massive crash on Interstate 81 northbound near Route 424 Sunday afternoon. A woman from Maryland died in the accident, which left that section of interstate closed for four hours.
The crash, which police said involved “multi-multi” vehicles, occurred at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes near the Arthur Gardner Highway and Route 424 exits, and involved at least 50 vehicles, including some tractor-trailers.
Authorities said 19 people were taken to Hazleton General Hospital. Two were hospitalized, one was still being treated at press time and the rest were treated and released, Hazle Township Fire & Rescue Co. Chief Scott Kostician said.
Kostician said his department counted 68 vehicles involved in the pileup.
Luzerne County Coroner John Corcoran said Teresa S. Colin Berrocal, 24, of Bowie, Md., died as a result of the accident after her 2003 Mitsubishi slammed into a tractor-trailer that was involved in an accident a few minutes earlier. Corcoran said no charges will be filed.
“The accidents were just awful,” Corcoran said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Other motorists waiting in traffic after the pileup echoed Corcoran, saying it was the worst accident they’ve ever seen.
Police said accident victims were being transported from the scene by the American Red Cross to a shelter for food and warmth. Other emergency workers were bringing gasoline to the dozens of motorists struck in traffic.
Traffic was rerouted to routes 309, 93 and 924 during the closure of the interstate, causing traffic tie-ups in other areas in and around Hazleton.
“There (were) more people working and more tow trucks than I’ve ever seen,” said state police Sgt. Robert Castner of the Hazleton barracks. “It’s a lot of work.”
Castner said crews were working diligently for more than four hours to clear the interstate. The northbound lanes were reopened by 8 p.m. Southbound lanes opened about two hours earlier.
Initial reports about the crash said a tanker carrying hydrogen peroxide overturned on the interstate, but John Ankenbrand, acting deputy coordinator for Luzerne County Emergency Management, said the tanker did not breach or leak.
“Thankfully, the tanker was secured,” Ankenbrand said.
According to the National Weather Service at Binghamton, N.Y., warnings for snow squalls and whiteouts ended Sunday night, but a wind chill advisory will be in effect until 10 a.m. today. Temperatures are expected to fall between zero and 5 degrees by this morning. Strong winds of 15 to 25 mph are also expected.
Dozens of emergency crews from Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the American Red Cross and the Hazleton Police Department assisted state police at the scene.
The conditions of those taken to the hospital after the crash were not known at press time.
then, about 30 seconds later I had to stop
I think I remember reading about that. Back in April of 1980 and 1984, I took my sons down to Florida. Inevitably, there were heavy snowfalls on the way down and back. It was so bad that we got off at several different exits in an attempt to find a motel to stay in, and they were all full. We had no choice but to continue driving, all the while seeing cars and tractor trailers off the road.
It's such a mountainous area, with so much open space that the winds blow the snow across the roads and visibility is zero. On our trip down to Florida in '80, we were driving on 81 South and because the roads were full of wet, heavy snow, driving was very slow. I remember trying to pass a slower vehicle in that crap, and I ended up sliding all the way across the road to the right and banging into the guard rail. Thank God there was no one behind me, and there was a guard rail and no cliff. Now that I'm retired and I don't have to schedule my vacations to suit my employer, I refuse to drive down 81 once any snow has fallen.
Thanks for sharing the pics. Nasty stuff. Thank God you got home okay.
Hmmm...Sunny, clear and will be about 75 degrees today in S. Cal.
so stop complaining already ! :)
I think the liquid magnesium is for pre-treating the roads. We’ve been subjected to some freakish weather events in the last couple of years where the roads weren’t pre-treated & the temps got so cold, so suddenly that the de-icers weren’t effective. ‘Course the weather is always a bit freaky on I-81 between Tower City & Scanton.
We’ve had a lot of budget problems associated with snow removal here in PA. Most of our worst storms seem to happen late in the winter when the budget for rock salt & snow clearing is pretty much tapped-out.
I live in PA but the worst white-out I was ever in was on I-80 in Colorado. I was coming up on the Eisenhower tunnel when the cars & trucks I was following ‘disappeared’. I expected to get piled into any second. Didn’t know if I should go for the shoulder (which I couldn’t see), slow to a crawl, or try to keep some speed. I opted to slow & thankfully so did everybody else. That was ‘white-knuckle’ driving.
From a montana state site:
“Materials Used for Winter Maintenance What is magnesium chloride?
Magnesium chloride is a salt compound extracted primarily from the Great Salt Lake, with added corrosion inhibitors, used to prevent or remove the build up of ice and snow on roads.
Magnesium chloride works like anti-freeze by lowering the freezing temperature of water and preventing ice from forming a strong bond to the road. It helps keep roads from becoming slick, improves safety and reduces accidents.”
Wow!!! Glad you are OK!! Scary stuff.
This thread is really interesting, but I missed the hockey connection. ;-)
I had to move the bottom of my browser up so I couldn’t see that picture. It was making me woozy.
I skied 7Springs two weekends ago and I had very good conditions. This weekend I was at the Wisp Resort in Western Maryland. The warm weather this week made the snow pretty slushy. How was 7Springs?
LOL! Wrong thread!
I didn’t sleep too well last night. sorry.
I missed the hockey connection as well, but the woman who died is from Bowie, MD... which is about a 30 minute drive from here. Prayers going out!
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