People Rescued But Highways Still Closed
Portions Of Interstates 78, 80 And 81 In Pennsylvania Have Been Shut Since Wednesday's Ice/Snow Storm
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Snow Strands Motorists On I-78
The Valentine's Day Blizzard of '07 left motorists who were traveling on I-78 in Pennsylvania stranded for almost 20 hours in a 50-mile stand-still traffic jam. KYW-TV's Robin Mackintosh reports.
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Plows Clear I-78 In Pa.
CBS News RAW: Snow plows remove ice-covered snow from Interstate 78 in Lehigh County, Pa., where snow caused a 50-mile traffic jam and left motorist stranded.
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Winter Weather Fallout
Motorists and air travelers were stranded as much of the Midwest and Northeast are still feeling the effects of the snow and icy conditions. Sharyn Alfonsi reports.
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Deborah Miller of Rhode Island, right, speaks with Andrea Bryer with the Pennsylvania National Guard, along Interstate 78 in Bethel, Pa., on Feb. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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State Police vehicles block the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, on Feb. 15, 2007, at the exit for Berwick in Lime Ridge, Pa., to prevent more vehicles from entering the closed highway. (AP/The Bloomsburg Press Enterprise)
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A motorist caught in a 50-mile backup on I-78 in Bethel, Pa., gets an emergency bottle of water from Frank Gergar, right, of Steel City Volunteer Fire Company, Feb. 15, 2007. (AP)
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Traffic is backed up at the New Smithville exit of Interstate 78 on Feb. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/The Morning Call)
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Tracy Cook with the Steel City Volunteer Fire Company walks along Interstate 78 delivering supplies to stranded motorists in Bethel, Pa., on Feb. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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Photo Essay
Old Man Winter Pays Visit
Powerful storm system blankets Midwest and Northeast with heavy snow, ice and wind.
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Interactive
Winter Watch
See photos of wet and snowy days across the country, and check out snow accumulations and airport delays.
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Photo Essay
Snowed Under
More than a week of lake-effect squalls bury parts of upstate New York under more than 10 feet of snow.
"It took us a couple of days to get a lot of disabled vehicles, especially tractor-trailers, off the road so we could get back in and deal the 4- to 6-inch ice layer that has formed on many spots," DOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said in a telephone interview.
State Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler said Friday that I-78, as well as large portions of I-81 and I-80, would remain closed so crews and salt trucks could attack the icy mixture that coated the pavement and became rock-hard as overnight temperatures plummeted.
"Interstate 81 is closed in both directions between the Fort Indiantown Gap area, just east of Harrisburg, and the Wilkes-Barre area," Kirkpatrick said. The closure of I-80 stretches from "roughly the Bloomsburg area in north-central Pennsylvania and U.S. 209 in the Pocono Mountains region."
Rest areas on open parts of Interstate 78 were "full to the rafters" with truckers who have nowhere to go, reports CBS radio station KYW-AM.
Sean Brown, a PennDOT spokesman, said Friday morning, "We have plow trucks out there, we have graders out there, we have loaders out there, just hammering away at it."
The work continued a day after National Guardsmen in Humvees ferried food, fuel and baby supplies to motorists who had been stranded on a 50-mile stretch of I-78 in eastern Pennsylvania for nearly 24 hours — the victims of a Valentine's Day storm that dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain on most of the state.
State officials, under mounting criticism, said they were unable to prevent the colossal jam. Several jackknifed tractor trailers stacked up traffic, and even after they were cleared, the big rigs behind them were unable to get any traction and got stuck themselves, state police said.
PennDOT estimated that at one point there were hundreds of tractor-trailers stuck. Some trucks were stranded by road conditions, while others ran out of fuel or their fuel froze.
But drivers were outraged, especially ones who had unwittingly blundered into the jam on Thursday.
State police did not close all the entrance ramps to I-78 until around 5 p.m. Thursday, more than 24 hours after cars and trucks started getting caught. Officials could not provide an explanation for why it took so long.
"Why would they have that exit open if they were just going to let us sit there?" said a crying Deborah Miller. Her 5-year-old son was trapped in the car with her, running a 103-degree fever from strep throat.
"How could you operate a state like this? It's totally disgusting," said Eugene Coleman, of Hartford, Conn., who was trapped for 20 hours with his girlfriend and pregnant daughter. "God forbid somebody gets really stuck on the highway and has a life-threatening emergency. That person would have died."
Gov. Ed Rendell declared a statewide disaster emergency, which authorizes state agencies to use all available resources and personnel and which waives some bidding and contract procedures. He also announced that tolls would be waived for 24 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



if you're out in bad conditions, you have to take responsibility for becoming part of it and not expect the state to work miracles.
Anyone that is travelling with a child with a fever or a pregnant woman in an ice storm is out of their minds. I don't blame the state at all for this mess. I blame the drivers. They didn't need the state to tell them the weather. All they had to do was look up.
Sheesh.
They would have loved you and hated you at the same time. But at least it would have been better then what the state did to help.
That storm was wreaking havoc everywhere but these people paid no attention. Deaths shouldn't be blamed on the storm. Storms are passive. It is humans making the decision to travel in bad conditions, many without checking the weather on tv or internet, and many leaving home without even stocking up the car like it should be.
It is winter. Snow happens. Put more effort into winter travel preperation before leaving home, instead of channeling effort into blaming others. Blaming officials is unfair. They didnt' want you out there in the first place.
"global warming" will help me with my heating bills, so I can save some of my social security check for medicine.
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Global warming doesn't reflect in the episodical cold snaps. Instead it reflects in the average temperatures throughout the year which had be steadily rising.
"global warming" will help me with my heating bills, so I can save some of my social security check for medicine.
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I honestly don't know the answer because like I said I've NEVER experienced a situation like this but if they weren't going anywhere couldn't they have just stepped out for a moment and scooped up some of this massive snow and "eaten" it or bring it in the vehicle and let it melt?
Even though it was "cold" couldn't they have gotten out...walked around the vehicle for a bit then gotten back in just to strech their legs?
I don't know what those little barricades between the highways are but the one going in the other direction seems quite "clear" I don't know why they couldn't break those down and start diverting traffic. So what if you couldn't go the way you wanted there's bound to be a safe haven or shelter till things clear up a bit going the other way.
But what do I know...I'm where the HOT is. We turn on our air conditioners to make it cold enough to light a fire.
As neitherone said , global warming dosn't mean there will be no more cold weather. It's a general warming trend over time. You can't expect it to suddenly just stop snowing because of global warming.
What kind of society do we live in when no one takes responsibility for anything?
and instead of letting the jammed up traffic through - they just kept it closed.
What a bunch of idiots! reminds me of the time there was a ten mile backup because the toll collectors called in sick so only one toll collector was open for the rush hour.
Typical government performance...
Some have called the trucker driver from CT an idiot for driving in the storm ... then answer me where should he go? PA and the whole Northeast USA lack badly on truck stops and rest areas because everyone screams "Not in my backyard" when one is proposed. These same people will be mad when their store shelves go bare cause no one delivered the shipment!
Oh yea, if you don't want to blame PA ... why are all the major highways STILL closed today?
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by paramunch
February 17, 2007 8:00 AM PST
- I hold the Pennsylvania Highway DOT responsible. There is no information posted on the Federal Highway or State Highway web pages about this road closure. I have also previously checked several independent travel advisory websites using the route from Mass to Hershey, PA. I was unable to find anyone reporting a disturbance on route 78 in PA. If PA DOT updated their site many of these and other travelers would have the information to make an informed decision. Especially my salesman who I advised incorrectly to take this route; after checking these web sites.
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