Maryland Couple, Truck Driver Carry 300 Packages Of Bread To Stranded I-95 Drivers

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Stranded on icy Interstate 95 in Virginia for close to 16 hours, Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe of Ellicott City, had passed their breaking point.

They were thirsty. They were hungry and hadn't eaten anything for nearly 37 hours.

Sitting a few vehicles ahead of them happened to be a Schmidt Baking Co. truck. They could smell fresh bread like a wanderer sees mirages. They weren't the only ones who were desperate, Holihan told The Washington Post.

“We were starving,” said Holihan, 23, who was stuck in traffic on the icy road near Quantico. “People around us were very much struggling, as well. We could hear kids crying.”

Knowing it was probably a long shot, the Howard County couple called Schmidt Baking Co. in Baltimore to ask if the business would be willing to share whatever food was on that truck with the starving and desperate travelers. They reached the customer service line and left their phone number with a representative who promised to follow up on their request.

“I didn’t think it would actually work,” Holihan said.

Related: I-95 Shutdown: All Drivers Escape Road After 20+ Hours, Plows Out

Just 20 minutes later, Chuck Paterakis, one of the owners of H&S Bakery that operates Schmidt Baking Co., called Holihan and told the couple to have the trucker give a package of rolls and a loaf of bread to every person who wanted the food.

“It was an easy decision,” Paterakis told the Post. If he had been stuck out there on the road with no food, he added, “I would want someone to offer their products.”

Truck driver Ron Hill, Holihan and Noe carried the packaged food to vehicles around them. For an hour, the trio cautiously walked along the ice-covered road and delivered more than 300 packages of bread to grateful travelers.

The 50-mile section of Interstate 95 in Virginia was paralyzed for more than 20 hours by a storm that dumped about a foot of snow in the area. Sen. Tim Kaine, former vice presidential candidate, was one of the many Virginians stuck in the mess as vehicles sat parked on icy traffic lanes.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said crews were overmatched by the rapid snowfall. "We were prepared for the storm that was forecasted," he said in a news briefing late Tuesday afternoon. "This was an incredibly unusual event."

On Monday morning, the precipitation began as rain. VDOT crews were not able to pretreat roads, since the rain would have washed away their efforts, Northam said.

"I can certainly understand the fear and frustration," Northam said. "This has been a long night for many."

Northam also said the Virginia National Guard was not deployed because there was no request made by the affected localities.

Several drivers reported being stuck on the highway from Monday morning until midday Tuesday. VDOT officials said many drivers became stuck and stranded overnight due to build-ups of disabled vehicles amid accumulated snow and ice on the road.

Read more at The Washington Post.