PA Blizzard: National Guard Helping 100s Stranded On Turnpike For 16-Plus Hours

The National Guard has been called in to assist motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike who have been stranded in some cases for more than 16 hours because of heavy snow.

Those stuck include a busload of high school students, members of a college basketball team, a church congregation that held an impromptu mass on the roadway, and numerous tractor trailers and passenger cars.

Pennsylvania Turnpike officials report the National Guard arrived on the scene of a miles-long back up in Somerset County around 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

More than 135 first responders are on the scene Saturday morning, the governor’s office reports. The National Guard has been deployed with shovels, water and chains to assist with checking and digging out stuck cars.

A traffic backup several miles long is reported at mile marker 123. According to information from the governor’s office, the problem began Friday night when several westbound tractor trailers became stuck on a hill as they headed toward the Allegheny tunnels.

Click here for live updates on the storm in Pennsylvania.

Traffic then became backed up behind them, and a backlog of vehicles piled up. The pileup prevented emergency crews from getting heavy–duty tow trucks to the scene, according to officials. Road crews are unable to clear snow from the roads.

Pennsylvania State Police began turning people around, and having cars exit in the opposite direction, information from the governor’s office said. The highway between Exit 146 in Bedford and Exit110 in Somerset is now closed, according to Turnpike officials.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is refueling cars so they can keep heat running in their cars, officials say.

No injuries have been reported.

Members of the Iowans for Life church, who were on a bus headed home from D.C. when they got stuck on the turnpike, even held mass on the snowy roadway.

“What do you do when you’re stranded on a bus during a blizzard and you want to have mass? Make a snow alter,” congregation member Kennedey Moffet Tweeted. Her photo is attached to this post with permission.

Other stranded drivers have been posting their photos to social media, including a group of 46 high school students who say they’ve been there more than 16 hours. (This picture has been used with permission from Emily Linn.)

As much as two feet of snow is expected to fall through Sunday morning. Click here for accumulation totals.

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Among those stuck were members of the Duquesne University’s Men’s Basketball team. The team shared photos via social media of them making the most of their predicament.