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'Mass casualty incident' in Texas


Michelle

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BREAKING: 'Mass casualty incident' unfolding on Texas highway as more than 100 cars pile up because of icy roadways, trapping people in vehicles — UPDATED

Crash covers 1.5 miles

A rescue operation is under way on Thursday after more than an estimated 100 cars piled up on a Texas highway between Fort Worth and Dallas after sleet turned the roadways into sheets of ice, according to reports.

cont...

https://www.theblaze.com/news/massive-deadly-pile-up-on-texas-highway

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The video is horrific. I wonder how long they'll leave it up.

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57 minutes ago, Michelle said:

The video is horrific. I wonder how long they'll leave it up.

Which one? All of them are pretty bad, though at least none of them are graphic. Sheet ice up north is a hazard, but they don't get it like that down in Texas very often. At least they didn't have a snow storm going on in conjunction to the terrible sheet ice going on.... that's even nastier once the pile-ups start. 

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It sounds like a lot of the highways in the area are iced over and closed. That's from the video in Michelle's link.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/traffic/fatal-car-accidents-crashes-dfw-north-texas-thursday-icy-roads/287-c47f1996-97bd-497f-8232-97ef4c259ab6

Edited by susieice
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They had freezing rain come in. Authorities say it could take several days to clear the wreckage. My thoughts go out to the people involved and their families.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2021/02/11/winter-weather-causes-hazardous-conditions-on-north-texas-roads/

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23 minutes ago, rashore said:

Which one? All of them are pretty bad, though at least none of them are graphic

The video after you press the read more button. It shows part of the accident happening at night. It made me gasp a couple of times.

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8 minutes ago, Michelle said:

The video after you press the read more button. It shows part of the accident happening at night. It made me gasp a couple of times.

The video was removed but there is a link to YouTube to watch it. 

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7 minutes ago, Michelle said:

The video after you press the read more button. It shows part of the accident happening at night. It made me gasp a couple of times.

Thought you might have been referring to that one, but since there were multiple videos... and yeah, that particular one had a couple real cringers. 

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that is pretty bad, semis are deadly when out of control,  that is why i try to stick to parkways  as much as possible, no commercial traffic there.

Edited by aztek
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The news I just saw said 6 people died and 133 cars piled up.  65 people treated at the scene.   The company that was supposed to salt the road in the wee hours did not get there.

Edited by Desertrat56
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I just talked to an acquaintance whose boss died in that crash. Very sad. 

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Some of my relatives still live in the area (all are OK)  Conditions happen like that only every few years, so nobody is really smart about driving in it, or not driving at all.  Cities have little equipment to deal with it  Newer highways have very limited shoulder area and miles of concrete barriers.  Its like driving down a chute.  If something happens there is no way to avoid a pile up.

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44 minutes ago, Tatetopa said:

Its like driving down a chute.  If something happens there is no way to avoid a pile up.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-21-mn-45376-story.html

Fog mixed with people who are in a hurry never ends well.

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9 hours ago, Desertrat56 said:

The news I just saw said 6 people died and 133 cars piled up.  65 people treated at the scene.   THE COMPANY THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO SALT THE ROAD IN THE WEE HOURS DID NOT GET THERE.

This was what I first thought of when I read the OP: wasn't the road salted? The salting company will have this on their consciences forever. If there was a genuine reason that they couldn't salt the road, why didn't they let the highway agency know so that they could close the road until it was salted? This is the most appalling, avoidable(seemingly) tragedy.    

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I guess they were not used to driving on slick roads.   I was amazed at the speed many of the vehicles were going.  

As far as salting goes, there are many variables.  

When did the sleeting start?   The accident happened at 6:30.

Were the trucks just not out or were they busy on other roads.   They should have a priority list.  

How big a fleet does Fort Worth have.   I don't think many southern states have big snow and ice removal fleets.

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1 hour ago, Myles said:

I guess they were not used to driving on slick roads.   I was amazed at the speed many of the vehicles were going.  

As far as salting goes, there are many variables.  

When did the sleeting start?   The accident happened at 6:30.

Were the trucks just not out or were they busy on other roads.   They should have a priority list.  

How big a fleet does Fort Worth have.   I don't think many southern states have big snow and ice removal fleets.

I believe I-35 in that area is a priority on the salt list.  The storm hit the night before, I think.   One of the things about central Texas is that everyone drives too fast because the roads are kept in very good condition.   2/3 of the people that live in that area are not from that area (mostly midwesterners used to severe winter storms from Sept to April) and get lulled into a false sense of security because winter is usually not bad, but when a storm does hit it can be very bad.   The temperatures usually start warming up by now so the ice was a surprise for anyone who wasn't paying attention.

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here in nyc the salt roads long before the storm hits, or a rain,  in the winter time,  air temp is not always the same as pavement temp, black ice can form even when air is above freezing point

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Around here where I live in the south  they salt/sand roads on a VERY limited basis even when the nastiest weather is about to hit. It happen on infrequently that it's not cost effective to keep that type of equipment and resources available at all times. The county I live in has an agreement with a neighboring county to salt/sand our 3 to 4 major roads only to a certain point in case of inclement weather. 

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They've identified some of the victims. Because it happened during the early morning rush hour, it involved mostly essential workers. It happened at 6:30 am. Many of the 65 injured were wearing scrubs and hospital, or medical, ID badges.

https://www.fox29.com/news/victims-identified-survivors-recall-terrifying-scene-as-cars-piled-up-in-fort-worth?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3gvbgmHqWzmLT417xF83Ei3t-v2UyeLwGXpg106S3abi5jEEIyJUrY3KI

One nurse crawled out of her car and reported for work before seeking medical attention. Here she tells her story.

https://abc13.com/texas-fatal-pileup-crash-nurse-crawls-out-of-deadly-who-survived-reports-for-work-massive-pile-up-and-workd/10331588/

Our roads here are always brined and prepped before a storm hits. We've had some pileups here, but they usually happen when there is a period of whiteout. 

Edited by susieice
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4 minutes ago, susieice said:

Our roads here are always brined and prepped before a storm hits. 

You live where it is common to have ice and snow for 3 or 4 months of the year.  That part of Texas (at least the 14 years I lived there) only gets a big storm or extreme cold every few years.   Usually by this time spring is evident.   

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5 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

You live where it is common to have ice and snow for 3 or 4 months of the year.  That part of Texas (at least the 14 years I lived there) only gets a big storm or extreme cold every few years.   Usually by this time spring is evident.   

Right now we are in a pattern where we are getting ice and snow every two days and the forecast is that the pattern will continue through next week. We just had one Wednesday into Thursday and the next one is Saturday into Sunday. Then more coming Tuesday and again Thursday.

Edited by susieice
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1 hour ago, Desertrat56 said:

You live where it is common to have ice and snow for 3 or 4 months of the year.  That part of Texas (at least the 14 years I lived there) only gets a big storm or extreme cold every few years.   Usually by this time spring is evident.   

To my understanding, that's a main problem this time, the extreme cold. Typically, the grounds and roads are warm enough that even the freezing rain predicted wouldn't usually be such a problem- a messy drive, but drivable. It was the cold for days that allowed the precipitation to just freeze up into that black ice right away, and that's not so common. And though there was morning icy weather predicted, the severity of it on the roads wasn't entirely expected. Since such a thing is an every few years kind of thing, keeping a lot of ice/cold supplies and equipment are warranted. Drivers are used to the roads being clear, and wasn't expecting this either. 

I grew up and lived around the tip of Lake Michigan for a long time... and even through that area with a lot of experienced drivers and a goodly amount of cold weather supplies and equipment... sometimes all it takes is one bad error or slip on the black ice to cause all sorts of pileup. Some years aren't so bad and there aren't many pile ups, but a lot of years sees a few smaller ones, and sometimes the bigger ones.

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I think if I’m ever in one of these pile ups I’ll try to get out of my vehicle and run to the front as quickly as I can.

Not a good way to go ....

Edited by Raptor Witness
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