Winter Storm Strands Drivers for 12+ Hours on Kentucky Interstate
One truck driver said he slept in “a fetal position” as temperatures plummeted well below zero.

Leanardo Lozada/Getty
Motorists on Interstate 71 in Kentucky were stranded on the highway overnight Thursday as a winter storm walloped the southern state, sending temperatures below zero. Mark Churchman told The New York Times he got trapped in the freezing traffic jam around 10 p.m. while driving back to Louisville after seeing “The Nutcracker” in Cincinnati. “I learned how to sleep in my truck in a fetal position,” said Churchman, a 54-year-old electrician. He said he was stranded on the road for more than 12 hours, while those who tried to circumvent the traffic on the highway's shoulder ended up in snowy ditches. The cold forced Kentucky's state police and guardsmen to pass out blankets to stranded drivers and take some to shelters, the Times reported.
I-71 Northbound is closed beginning at exit 62 in Gallatin Co. Southbound is slow moving. Please avoid this area. https://t.co/DIgR3XXJRw pic.twitter.com/MMm1xt16k6
— Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (@KYTC) December 23, 2022
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