A pileup of 40 vehicles on Interstate 81 in upstate New York state brought traffic to a halt during Friday’s lake-effect snowstorm.
The accident occurred Friday morning near Watertown, New York, and although several people were transported by ambulance to the hospital,
no serious injuries were reported, the Watertown Daily Times said.
A section of the northbound lane on I-81 was closed, the newspaper said. One challenge was getting all of the accident victims away from the scene. The Times said two school buses were sent to take motorists to an area fire department station.
Truck driver John D. Michaud told the Times that he approached the crash scene slowly and steered toward the side of the road, but another tractor trailer hit the back of his vehicle.
Ian Wags posted a video of the accident scene to his Facebook page showed some of the chaos at the scene as law enforcement tried to work such a large accident.
“Snow off of eastern Lake Ontario has been reported throughout the morning and has continued falling into the early afternoon,"
Weather Channel meteorologist Linda Lam said. "A heavier band of snow was in the area late this morning, which would have reduced visibilites. Lake-effect snow is expected to continue through tonight with snow totals around a foot possible."
That snow is part of a larger snowstorm aiming toward New York state and New England through the coming week, The Weather Channel said.
Related Stories: