Crossed Up Highways: A Rural West Virginia Headache
Thousands of travelers stranded on a West Virginian mountain highway for over 8 hours due to a landslide.
Ready your seatbelts, buddy! We're venturing into the rugged terrain of West Virginia these days, where a wild weather dance left thousands of motorists stranded on an interstate highway for substantial hours—and we're not just talking about rush hour traffic, mate.
ASection of rural interstate highway in the southern part of the state saw a massive backup traffic-wise, stretching around 12 miles about 20 miles south of Charleston, the state capital. This snarl-up happened on a mountainous route, leaving little choice for motorists but to hunker down in their vehicles for the long haul—or should we say, overnight.
Posts galore flooded social media, with frustrated drivers sharing tales about the standstill, their desperation for a drop of water to quench their thirst, and even the calls for bathroom breaks for the little ones.
Nicky Walters, a pro wrestling enthusiast who got stuck in the gridlock returning from a battle in Mount Hope, shared her gratitude for maintaining her health but highlighted the helplessness plaguing those who did require assistance.
"Desperate" was the word she used to describe herself, knowing there were others in need of basic necessities, water, snacks, and much-needed tidbits of info. "The outside world was out of reach," she lamented.
Alas, maybe if Chuck Smith, the big boss at the West Virginia Parkways Authority, had given a heads-up, things might have turned out differently. On a brighter note, Smith admitted one lane reopened Friday morning but expressed his regret that traffic remained stagnant for hours.
Smith went on the record, stating, "Rerouting traffic should have been thePriority. Leavingpeople in the dark like that? It's a fiasco, purely unprofessional. It’s totally unacceptable. I have told the Parkways Authority to launch a probe into this debacle and revamp their procedures to ensure it never happens again."
Guess who got off scot-free, though? No injuries were reported, thank goodness. But sadly, by the time Brittany Lemon and her family got back home to Parkersburg, a grueling 24 hours had passed since their vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
In a Facebook video, Lemon shared her plight, hinting at no water and crying messengers of nature for her stranded children. Try as they might, they only managed an hour's shut-eye on the highway.
"Next time I travel, I'll be packing an emergency kit in my car," Lemon warned, pointing to the need for preparedness in dodging such a predicament.
Politician and former economic development chief, Mitch Carmichael, joined the chorus of complaints on Facebook, labeling the public's betrayed confidence as "incredibly unprofessional." He felt it was unforgivable that the people were left in near-darkness, adding that such a display paints a grim image of the state.
Well, West Virginia's governor, Patrick Morrisey, took no prisoners, declaring the shutdown a "complete disaster." Morrisey directed the Parkways Authority to conduct an investigation and update their procedures to avoid such reoccurrences.
Hold up; haven't we been here before? Seems like the year 2022 saw a repeat performance on this very same highway when a tractor trailer crashed and … yep, spilled a chemical, blocking traffic for most of the day. If history repeats itself, one might say tractor trailers are bad luck charm's for this stretch of highway!
Want to stay one step ahead of these road blockers? Building flood resilience within communities, enhancing early warning systems, and upgrading infrastructure with flood-resistant materials could help. Coordinating swift responses from emergency services, communicating info to the drivers, and supporting stranded motorists with community programs may also do the trick. Let's hope those lessons aren't washed away downstream!
- West Virginia's governor, Patrick Morrisey, expressed his concern about repeated incidents on the state's highways, such as the recent war-and-conflicts-induced migration of motorists due to the traffic backup.
- In the realm of policy-and-legislation, there have been calls for improved car-accident prevention measures, including flood-resistant infrastructure, early warning systems, and emergency response coordination.
- Within the general-news landscape, the ongoing debates center around the handling of such situations by authorities, highlighting the importance of clear communication and swift action in times of crisis.
- In the world of politics, the handling of the recent West Virginia highway backup is seen as a failure of policy-and-legislation, with many calling for a change in approach to address instances of crime-and-justice, like stranded motorists, more effectively.
- As for sports and sports-betting enthusiasts, they might find solace in the fact that the ongoing traffic fiasco on West Virginia's highways doesn't seem to be affecting their favorite games - a stark contrast to the gridlock causing widespread frustration among drivers.
