‘It was surreal’: One Woman’s Account of Being Stranded on 101 During Thursday Night’s Strong Snowstorm

When snow settled over Hwy 101 in northern Mendocino County yesterday afternoon hundreds of vehicles became stuck–some crashed, some had trees fall on them, and some drivers just pulled over unable to deal with the increasingly dangerous conditions.

Some estimates from emergency personnel describe 75 to 300 vehicles stuck in between Richardsons Grove and Redwood Valley north of Ukiah.

An Arcata woman and two of her friends found themselves among those travelers.

The woman told us that they had plans to go to Napa for the weekend. They watched the weather and paid attention to media, CHP, and Caltrans looking for clues on whether it would be safe or not to head out.

Though Hwy 101 closed to the north, nothing they saw indicated that 101 south of Arcata was dangerous until about 1 p.m., they saw a Facebook post from the Garberville CHP showing snow sticking on Hwy 101.

“It was the first time I saw something,” the woman told us. She and her friends consulted and decided that they needed to get going. “We left Arcata at two,” she explained. “Everything was totally fine until we got to Garberville.” But still, the snow wasn’t that bad.

About one mile before Confusion Hill, they ran into trouble. “Traffic was at a standstill,” she said. “There was no service so we couldn’t load any web sites…An hour into it there were no cars coming north.”

They thought there must have been a jackknifed semi or some other wreck.

“We sat there for three hours,” she explained. “We only moved forward when people turned around and went back.” They eventually got to a spot that allowed cell service and were able to text family asking them to check to see what was happening on Hwy 101 in northern Mendocino. But they didn’t see anything until a family member texted them our story on travelers stuck on 101.

At that point they decided to turn around. Traveling was slow on the snow covered roads. “We were going 20 mph,” the woman told us. She said they reached the south side of Richardson Grove where doing Caltrans is doing maintenance work and as they pulled to a stop with around five cars ahead of them, the workers said that 101 north of there was closed, too.

“We could hear the trees cracking and falling around,” she said. “The day before my neighbor had a tree fall on her house…I had to laugh so I wouldn’t cry.”

Eventually, Caltrans and CHP turned the line of vehicles around to a spot just north of the Eel River where Hwy 101 widens into four lanes–“a big, empty spot away from trees,” the woman explained.

There they sat with a large number of others.

“We just hung out there and tried to stay warm,” the woman explained. “My friend had a tote of hand-me-down clothes and we put those over us…She had one granola bar.”

The woman who said she grew up in the Midwest blames herself for not being more prepared. “I thought about bringing a covering,” she said. “But we weren’t being moms…” so she wasn’t really thinking about normal preparations.

At points they tried to learn what was going on but neither the CHP nor the Caltrans employees were sure. The area they were in doesn’t have good cell service and the storm appears to have been one of the most impactful in recent history.

“Finally around 8, the CHP came by and said on a loud speaker that they were going to escort us through,” the woman explained. “We had no idea where the caravan was going, but we went.”

Eventually, she said, “We got to Garberville.” There they hoped to get a motel room but none were available. “We got snacks at Rays [a grocery store] and then when we got to Myers Flat, it was clear and no cars on the road.”

They were able to get home easily from there.

“It was surreal,” she said adding… “We know how to have a girls’ trip, right?”

All in all, she said the experience reminded her how it important it was to be personally prepared to carry blankets, water and food. “We were depending on these resources [media, the weather services, CHP, and Caltrans] to tell us what was happening,” she said. And because of the rare intensity of the storm, all of them struggled to get out facts about the situation quickly enough.

“We couldn’t make a good decision, because we didn’t have enough information,” she said. But, she said, being prepared for winter travel would have made the situation easier.

Ready.gov has the following suggestions for being prepared:

Emergency Kit for the Car

In case you are stranded, keep an emergency supply kit in your car with these automobile extras:

• Jumper cables
• Flares or reflective triangle
• Ice scraper
• Car cell phone charger
• Blanket
• Map
• Cat litter or sand (for better tire traction)
• [In addition, carry snacks and water]

Prepare Your Car for Emergencies

Have a mechanic check the following on your car before an emergency:

• Antifreeze levels
• Battery and ignition system
• Brakes
• Exhaust system
• Fuel and air filters
• Heater and defroster
• Lights and flashing hazard lights
• Oil
• Thermostat
• Windshield wiper equipment and washer fluid level

Car Safety Tips

• Keep your gas tank full in case of evacuation or power outages. A full tank will also keep the fuel line from freezing.
• Install good winter tires and make sure they have enough tread, or any chains or studs required in your local area.
• Do not drive through flooded areas. Six inches of water can cause a vehicle to lose control or possibly stall. A foot of water will float many cars.
• Be aware of areas where floodwaters have receded. Roads may have weakened and could collapse under the weight of a car.
• If a power line falls on your car you are at risk of electrical shock. Stay inside until a trained person removes the wire.
• If it becomes hard to control the car, pull over, stop the car and set the parking brake.
• If the emergency could affect the stability of the roadway avoid overpasses, bridges, power lines, signs and other hazards.