More than 100 vehicles—including over 30 semi trucks, some jackknifed—were involved in a massive pileup on Interstate 196 in western Michigan on Monday as heavy snow reduced visibility and made roads slippery.
The Michigan State Police closed both directions of the highway just southwest of Grand Rapids early Monday to clear the wreckage. Cleanup was expected to take several hours, with multiple towing companies braving the cold to remove stranded cars and trucks. Victims were told to wait in their vehicles until a bus transporting them to nearby Hudsonville High School could arrive.
Pedro Mata Jr., who avoided the worst of the crash, said he was traveling at 20-25 mph when snow blew across the road, obscuring his view ahead.
“It was a little scary just listening to everything, the bangs and booms behind you. I saw what was in front of me. I couldn’t see what was behind me exactly,” Mata said.
Mata managed to stop his pickup safely and pulled into the median to avoid getting hit from behind.
Grand Valley Towing, one of several companies responding, dispatched more than a dozen trucks to the scene despite the brutal weather.
“We’re trying to get as many vehicles out of there as quickly as possible, so we can get the road opened back up,” manager Jeff Westveld said.
A day prior, snow reached as far south as the Florida Panhandle, complicating playoff football games in Massachusetts and Chicago with slippery conditions. Forecasters cautioned of possible freezing temperatures overnight into Tuesday in north-central Florida and southeast Georgia.
