"They let you go right into the mess,"

Yeah, I think that could be a very important take home for all of us from this. We all think "that couldn't happen to me", but it theoretically could, for a variety of reasons. It doesn't hurt to play "war games" with this kind of event and try to learn and prepare one's self a bit more.

 

I wonder how much worse that event in VA would have been if a lot of the cars had been all electric

 

Yes.
At a half gallon per hour that's less the 1/3 of a tank (in an Explorer).
And that's running the engine constant. You could easily cut that in half and still be plenty warm.
I know this will sound cold, but if she is any kind of mother looking out for her children in an emergency situation she shoulda had more than 1/8th of a tank full.
If she's out by herself taking chances, i don't care if she dies from hypothermia, but she put her children in that situation.
(Again, you can't blame someone else when you drive into a snowstorm unprepared)

 

I lived in NoVA for several years while at a couple different duty stations and there are so many transient people living/working in the region from all over the world that many (if not most) of the I95 traffic going through that region has no clue what to do in the event of an accident/incident caused by severe weather. The same thing as this current incident happened back around 2003 or 2004 when I was stationed at Indian Head, MD but lived in Stafford, VA (thanks to my first ex-wife...not going there). When the snow started falling, the federal government shut down and sent everyone home (as did a lot of local, state, and private businesses). Rush hour traffic in that region is a nightmare in good weather but heavy snow was just an accident waiting to happen. If I recall, an SUV speeding (because they had AWD) lost control and clipped a tractor trailer. End result was the same as the recent event...miles of traffic stuck in the snow and freezing temps (including school buses). The state police broadcast over local radio stations that people stuck had two options, to walk to the front of the accident scene (long walk for some) or to wait and someone would be there eventually to take them to a shelter. Some kids didn't get home from school until the next day. I took the long way home (301) which was a 100-mile drive home (instead of 75) and had no issues.

I agree with The Wood Wolverine that I am not going to call all of these people idiots (some yes, but not all). However, what I have a problem with is that so many instantly put the blame on local, state, and federal agencies for what they perceive as an interruption in their daily lives. Our (American) society has gotten so bad at not taking personal responsibility for anything and thinking ahead or planning outside the box for possible catastrophic events not only isn't done but seems to be treated with disdain. Most people belittle government agencies (at all levels) but when anything bad happens, scream at those same agencies for not helping or saving them (when just a few minutes of extra thought or planning could have averted a lot of the grief). Why (as a society) have we lost the ability to take care of ourselves and expect the government to do it for us?

Perhaps because of my career and what I have seen and lived through I have little compassion for people who scream at the smallest inconvenience or interruption in their daily lives when in reality, it isn't that big of a deal. Most of these people have no clue what a real in extremis situation is and if being stuck in your car for a few hours in a snowstorm is the worst thing that has ever happened to you, consider yourself lucky. I mean this was on I95 in northern Virginia for Pete's sake, not the boonies of Alaska. If it was that bad, get out of your car and walk a few hundred meters and you'll be on some side street where you can knock on someone's door for help. Maybe I just have a negative perspective about this because I was reading a book about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis last night and the horrors that the survivors went through while adrift for days. Now that is a traumatic experience. Being cold for 16 hours and going without your mocha latte is not.

 

Love it Dennis.

 

And electricity to recharge the battery doesn't come in a 5 gallon can

 

That's why you have a hitch haul, with a generator and gas cans strapped to it, so you can juice up your car.....

Or just have a little plug in heater to run from the genny!

 

But that would upset people like AOC

 

Isn't that the point??!!

 

Exactly

 

Gennies are outlawed in Ca now

 

Funniest thing about this is the lame stream media has been all over the new governor who hasn’t even taken office yet. I guess he didn’t respond to this storm the way he should have. Same ol same ol, nothing to see here.

 

People are idiots more and more. Every vehicle we have has extra coats and blankets. A few of the exothermic hand warmers, tire plug kit, 12v air compressor, flashlight.
Assorted tools, tape, fuses ect. Tried the snacks thing but that never holds up.
Grew up in rural Wisconsin along with carburetors and water in fuel.

 

Yeah, depends on where they were up there, they could have been close to another road and or houses. There are a few stretches where you wouldn't be able to get to much for quite a bit of walking. But other places you are within easy (or less) walking distance of some form of "civilization". But I imagine 90% + of them didn't have any clothing or footware to make much of a walk in those conditions. That's one time when being a trucker with a sleeper cab and tanks full of fuel would be quite beneficial...

 

Yep blaming the new governor is just playing partisan politics.

 

Still, there is nowhere along the I95 corridor in northern Virginia that I would even consider calling 'remote'. Inconvenient...yes, and yes some may have had to walk a bit to get to a house or business, however that corridor is very heavily populated and built up so there is no reason anyone should have been in the peril that the media is making it out to be. And I agree that most probably weren't clothed for an artic expedition however if you consider your life to be in jeopardy, walking less than a mile in snow wearing street clothes is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but not what I would consider life threatening. I did hear one report that some truckers were handing out food and water that they had in their rigs so kudos to them.

 

So it sounds stupid to say this, but all this happened pretty fast. But I am surprised that they never called out the national guard (at least I haven't heard that they did). They have used APCs before during storms to help get people. I think they could have used them in most places along the road edge or in the median. But alas, it's easy to play Monday morning armchair quarterback.....