Paralyzed: Storm leaves thousands stuck on I-55

The southbound lane of Interstate 55 was at a standstill Tuesday morning from north of Blytheville to south of Turrell, and the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department said little can be done until the temperatures start to rise.

According to David Nilles, public information specialist with the AHTD, I-55 has has been backed up for more than 12 hours, particularly in the southbound lane where traffic is all but completely stopped, while northbound traffic has freed up and is moving at a steady pace. While road crews are working to clear the highway, Nilles said there's little that can be done until the snow and ice starts to melt.

"We've been at this since Sunday when it started -- treating bridges and the roads," Nilles said. "Once it gets above freezing, we should start seeing progress."

Although the Arkansas State Police reported working a number of accidents on I-55, including tractor-trailers that had jackknifed near the Missouri state line, Nilles said the biggest problem road crews are facing in the poor road conditions caused by the buildup of ice, sleet and snow since Sunday afternoon.

"We've got crews out there working, and they're doing what they can, but our equipment can't get where it needs to be because of the condition of the roads," he said.

Thanks in large part to stranded motorists, local hotels have filled up fast, according to hotel owner Don Houseworth, who told the CN all the hotels in the Blytheville and West Memphis area are full. Houseworth said the hotels started to fill up because of extra power company workers coming into the area, but now with many drivers being stranded, some for as long as 12 hours, according to Houseworth, everything is booked.

Twitter is also buzzing with reports of motorists being stranded for several hours on I-55.

Ashley Batchelder tweeted around 1 a.m., "Haven't moved in almost 7 hours. Keep drifting in and out of sleep. Am Hungry and tired and cold. #I55 #Stranded".

Around midnight, Phillip Anderson tweeted, "Been stuck for almost 6 hours in the same spot on #i55 past Blytheville."

Alexandra Norwood tweeted, "Stuck on #I55 in #Arkansas for nearly 5 hours now...I'm losing my mind! We've been in the car since 730 this morning from #Omaha :("

Another account tweeted, "People are running out of gas on #I55 southbound Arkansas."

Many people are rallying together on Twitter and sending out their support to those stranded.

Taylor Fischer tweeted, "Prayers going out to all the families stuck on #I55." And O'Jay Cullins posted, "Hope this weather break soon, But looking at the news it says we suppose to get more bad weather tonight! Hope the ppl on #i55 get help soon."

Despite highway tough times, local power companies are reported substantial progress is getting power restored throughout the county.

Brad Harrison, with Mississippi County Electric Cooperation, said the company only has around 40 members in the Clearlake and South Ruddle Road areas without power Tuesday morning, which should be restored by the afternoon.

The south end of the county will have a little longer to wait; however, as crews work to get the Lepanto substation back up and running. Harrison said the 300 members without power in that area should be up and running by Tuesday night, with the exception of a few isolated locations that sustained property damages during the storm.

Entergy's Paul Brewster said workers have made significant progress after outages peaked at just under 5,000 customers. Brewster said as of Tuesday morning, only about 600 customers were still without power, all of which he expects to be back up by 10 p.m.

He added that customers have been patient and a big help during these poor conditions.

"Our customers have been great, and we appreciate their patience and assistance through this," Brewster said. "We've had people get out with tractors and help us pull our equipment around and get it where it can be the most helpful."

Entergy customers are encouraged to call in if their power isn't back up by 8 p.m.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com