LAUREL HILL –This week’s snow storm that was both sudden and heavier than expect left Scotland County drivers scrambling to get home on treacherous roads and contributed to a massive traffic jam on U.S 74.
Two wrecks — one in the eastbound lane and one in the westbound lane — left the snow-blanketed highway tied up from Morgan Street to the US 401 exit at Laurinburg Wednesday night. Some drivers were stranded until 1 a.m., according to Trooper Stein Davis.
A tractor trailer heading eastbound collided with a car which set off a chain reaction.
“Another tractor trailer came along, and he slid into the tractor trailer already there, and we had other wrecks from people trying to stop,” Davis said. “We had tractor trailers and cars everywhere; a lot of people just slipped off the road.”
A semi-truck sliding off the road jackknifed and blocked the entire west lane as well, Davis said.
No one was injured in any of the wrecks.
Frustrated and fearful drivers sat in traffic from about 4:30 p.m. until the early hours of the morning waiting for the accidents to be cleared. The area got between three to five inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.
“We had to call in large wreckers to get those trucks pulled,” Davis said. “It took every bit of three hours to get 74 bypass cleared up once the wreckers got there.”
Some locals were able to make it to the turnoffs for well-known back and side roads in order to get out of the massive jam but others were left stranded.
Traffic began moving freely by midnight and cleared up quickly after that, according to Davis.
Janis Jones was one of hundreds stuck in the mess. She was entangled in the mire from shortly after 7 p.m. to 12:36 a.m. She had taken U.S. 74 as an alternative to US 15-501 to get home from work in Aberdeen.
“I started down 501 and saw that it wasn’t going anywhere. I got to where I could turn around and went down US 1 and came across on 177 and down 74,” Jones said. “It was fine until I passed the light in Laurel Hill.”
Jones noticed other drivers turning down Ida Mill Road, but was afraid to take an unfamilar detour.
“Do you know how many times I considered parking my car beside the road and getting out and walking,” Jones said. “At one point I called 911 to see if I could get an update and the operator seemed like he was just not interested.”
Wreckers arrived around 10:30 p.m. and traffic was moving by midnight and frustrated drivers were able to head home.
“I prayed so much it wasn’t even funny,” Jones said. “I never want to be in anything like that again. I thank the Lord for keeping me safe. It was just weird. We couldn’t go anywhere .. we couldn’t move.”
Scotland County Emergency Response took 100 calls for accidents between 4 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, according to EMS Director Roylin Hammond.
Statewide, the North Carolina Highway Patrol responded to 700 collisions and 300 other calls for assistance. There were three reported deaths due to the storm — two in Moore County and one in Beaufort County.
“Most were people who slipped off the road and into the ditch,” Hammond said. “We had a few fender benders where people slid into each other. In some cases the cars were just going down the road and slid together.”
The wrecks were not completely the fault of drivers inexperienced at snow driving, according to Hammond.
Though DOT sprayed the roads with brine on Tuesday ahead of the snow, there was a thin sheet of ice under the accumulating snow that was responsible for the snowy demolition derby.
According to Hammond, the brine has always been effective in the past, but temperatures have not been this extreme before snow of ice events in previous years.
DOT trucks were out scraping salting roads again Wednesday night but the melt re-froze, according to Hammond. He also said that anything that melted Thursday will freeze again as temperatures drop and create dangerous black ice.
“It’s just so cold it froze back. The roads are as slick as glass. We are urging people to stay off the roads unless it’s an emergency,” Hammond said.
Officials said that frigid temperatures will mean that slick conditions could persist on roads into the weekend. Residents are urged not to use the roads unless absolutely necessary.
“We’re encouraging motorists to stay off the roads,” said Col. Glenn McNeill, commander of the State Highway Patrol. “If you do have to travel because it’s a necessity… we ask drivers to follow a few safety driving tips: increase following distance, decrease speed, beware of other vehicles. Be prepared for delays. Don’t assume the road surface you’re traveling is going to stay that way.”
