A severe winter snowstorm left hundreds of motorists stranded from Monday into Tuesday afternoon in freezing temperatures on Interstate 95 in Virginia while road crews struggled to clear a path.

Many drivers were stranded for over 20 hours, some from Monday into Tuesday afternoon, because of the blizzard.

A 50-mile stretch of the Interstate was left impassable, in part because of disabled trucks blocking the way in snowy and icy conditions, the Virginia Department of Transportation said.

Of those stranded included Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who was still stuck in the snowed in traffic as of 10.30am Tuesday, some 19 hours after starting his drive.

‘I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol,’ Kaine tweeted, posting a picture from behind a windshield.

At around daybreak on Tuesday, the state’s department of transportation tweeted that ‘crews will start taking people off at any available interchange to get them.’

Many other secondary roads in the region have also been blocked by downed trees or wintery conditions, authorities said.

Over 300,000 were without power Tuesday morning in Maryland and Virginia. At least five people have died from the storm.

Governor Ralph Northam said his team responded throughout the night, sending out emergency messages to connect stranded drivers with help, and working with local officials to set up warming shelters.

The National Guard is ‘available,’ according to the governor, but has not been called to assist yet. The governor could not say when the situation would be resolved.

‘Right now, things aren’t moving as you know and as you can see on the cameras,’ Northam told radio station WTOP Tuesday morning. ‘We need to get the cars and the trucks off the roads. We need to keep people safe, and then we need to clear them.’

Crews were working to remove stopped trucks, plow snow, de-ice the roadway and guide stranded motorists to the nearest exits along the East Coast’s main north-south highway.

A single lane of traffic began to slowly move forward between many stalled trucks and cars in one direction at around 9am Tuesday. People could also be seen walking down traffic lanes still covered with ice and snow.

Between 7 to 11 inches of snow accumulated in the area, according to the National Weather Service, and state police had warned people to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary, especially as evening and freezing temperatures set in.

Thousands of accidents and stranded vehicles were reported throughout central and northern Virginia between Monday and Tuesday.

The storm wrecked havoc to roadways across the mid-Atlantic, dumping over a foot of snow in some places. The winter storm blanketed parts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kentucky.

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