Massive 100-Vehicle Pileup Shuts Down Michigan Interstate Amidst Snowstorm

With conditions treacherous on a highway in Michigan on Monday after a blast of lake-effect snow, more than 100 vehicles slipped and crashed into one another in a chain-reaction pileup, with some sliding off the interstate entirely, the authorities said. Numerous injuries were reported, but no deaths, according to the Michigan State Police. The pileup, set off around 10:20 a.m., forced the closure of Interstate 196 in both directions between Hudsonville and Zeeland, just southwest of Grand Rapids and about 10 miles east of Lake Michigan. The highway was still closed by late afternoon, as emergency crews worked to clear the vehicles, including about three dozen semitrailer trucks that had jackknifed, said Shanon Banner, the communications director for the Michigan State Police. Buses from nearby cities and area schools were taking stranded motorists from the scene to Hudsonville High School. Some were arranging to be picked up once at the school, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office. There were reports of poor visibility and blowing snow on Interstate 196, whipped up by a winter storm system moving across the country over the holiday weekend. The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids, Mich., said on Monday afternoon that “heavy lake-effect and lake-enhanced snow will persist downwind of the Great Lakes and produce some whiteout conditions that could cause difficult travel conditions.” On Sunday, a winter storm delivered a chilly blast to the Southeast, bringing an unusual but short-lived dose of snow as far south as Florida and Georgia before traveling up the East Coast and into New England. Forecasters warned Monday that freezing temperatures would linger in the eastern half of the country, with freeze warnings in effect for portions of southern Georgia and northern Florida into Tuesday morning.