By Gao Yun
Affected by heavy snowfall brought by the Great Lakes region, Michigan was hit by a blizzard on Monday, Jan. 19. Subsequently, a major chain-reaction crash occurred on a section of an interstate highway, involving more than 100 vehicles colliding with one another or sliding off the road due to icy conditions.
Following the accident, the Michigan State Police closed Interstate 196 in both directions on Monday morning, southwest of Grand Rapids. Officials said cleanup crews were removing all damaged vehicles, including more than 30 semi-trucks. State police reported that multiple people were injured, but no deaths had been reported as of the time of writing.
According to the Associated Press, witness Pedro Mata Jr. recalled that before the crash he was driving at about 20–25 miles per hour as wind and snow swept across the roadway, leaving him barely able to see vehicles ahead. He managed to stop his pickup truck safely, then moved it off the roadway and into the median to avoid being struck by vehicles coming from behind.
Mata said, “Just hearing the crashes and loud bangs behind me was pretty scary. I could see what was happening in front of me, but I couldn’t clearly see what was happening behind me.”
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The Detroit News reported that Mata said it took more than 45 minutes for rescue personnel to reach the scene. Some responders even used snowmobiles to rescue stranded drivers.
Chaos on the roads
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said numerous traffic accidents were reported in the area, along with multiple semi-trucks jackknifing out of control and many vehicles sliding off the road. Some stranded drivers were transported to Hudsonville High School, where they could make phone calls for help or arrange rides.
Officials estimate that cleanup operations could take several hours, and the highway will remain closed during that time.
One of the towing companies involved in the rescue, Grand Valley Towing, dispatched more than a dozen tow trucks to the scene. Several other towing companies also responded despite the extreme cold.
Company manager Jeff Westveld said, “We’re trying to get as many vehicles out of there as quickly as possible so we can get the road reopened.”
Meanwhile, the accident is being seen as one of the latest impacts of a widespread winter storm sweeping across the United States. The National Weather Service issued warnings that areas stretching from northern Minnesota south and east through Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York could face extreme cold or winter storm conditions.
The previous day, snowfall reached as far south as the Florida Panhandle and affected playoff games in Massachusetts and Chicago, making it harder for players to grip the football.
