Authorities Warned About an Uptick in Casualties
According to the Louisiana State Police, about 158 vehicles were affected, and 25 people were injured.
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They also warned that the number of fatalities could increase as first responders work around the clock looking for victims and trying to understand the true extent of the damage.
The Fog Left Motorists Stuck and Helpless
The super fog caused extremely low visibility, and as a result, vehicles collided into each other and were engulfed in a huge inferno.
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Thankfully, some drivers were able to escape the flames on time and were soon on the side of the road or on the roofs of their cars. All they could do was watch in utter shock as the disaster unfolded.
Eyewitnesses Shared Their Experience
Eyewitness Clarencia Patterson Reed recounted the terrible experience to news stations. She said she was driving with her wife and niece to Hammond on Interstate 55 that morning as the fog thickened.
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She managed to avoid hitting the car in front of her, but the vehicles behind her weren’t so lucky as they couldn’t stop early enough, and they ended up running into her. “It was ‘Boom. Boom.’ All you kept hearing was crashing for at least 30 minutes,” Reed said.
The Woman Was Lucky to Escape Unharmed
Clarencia got out of the car, but her wife, Lisa Patterson Reed, was stuck in the vehicle and sustained injuries on her leg and her torso. Once she managed to escape, Clarencia and other drivers on the highway watched as two 18-wheelers went up in flames.
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“We’re grateful because we’re alive. We’re here to tell you what we see up here because some people will not get that chance. It’s bad,” Reed said in a Facebook Live feed.
Facebook Users Got to See Some Extent of the Damage
In the video, she spoke with another woman who was stuck in her car, but was pulled out. The camera also showed a vehicle that crashed underneath a pickup truck.
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Meanwhile, other motorists couldn’t make it out of their cars, and they just sat patiently waiting for the authorities to come help.
Another Eyewitness Also Recounted the Chain of Events
Christopher Coll was another motorist on the scene. According to him, he was slamming on the brakes when another pickup truck rammed into him. The force of the impact pushed Coll’s trailer towards the pile-up.
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He too was able to escape by kicking his passenger door open, and he tried to help others to safety as well. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was horrible. It was the worst wreck I’ve ever seen,” Coll said.
Evaluating the Damage and Providing First Aid
Authorities said that the 25 people who had sustained injuries were rushed to the hospital for immediate care, while other people sought to tend to their injuries on their own.
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Authorities are yet to make an official statement about the number of fatalities, but according to Reed, she had seen about two people dead inside a box truck that had crashed beneath a flatbed trailer. She also said that first responders had told her and her wife that at least five people had perished in the crashes.
The State Officials Quickly Swung Into Action
In a speech addressing the unfortunate event, the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, encouraged people to pray for those affected and requested blood donors to help boost the supplies at the blood bank.
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By 2 p.m. that Monday, the police had put out the vehicle fires and begun working on evacuating the vehicles on the interstate. The state police also got help from the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Kenner Police.
The Police Also Shared Pictures of the Multiple Crashes
Louisiana State Police took to their Facebook page to share several aerial images showing the extent of the pile-up.
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The images showed crashed vehicles and multiple damages on both lanes of the interstate. As a result of the multiple crashes, there was a pile-up of traffic for miles on both southbound and northbound lanes of I-55.
Moving Forward
State troopers notified the families of the people affected by the incident and commenced an investigation into the exact reason the crashes had happened. They also coordinated with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to conduct an inspection of the bridge.
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The super fog also prompted authorities to close parts of I-10 and the 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway at intervals.
The Super Fog Could Return
According to the National Weather Service, there are several wetland fires in the area. These fires had created so much smoke which mixed with the morning fog to create a super fog.
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Although the visibility got better as the fog lifted, the Weather Service cautioned that in the coming days, similar dangerous conditions could return.