A massive pileup in Louisiana's I-55 involved dozens of cars and killed at least two people following what was known as a "super fog" that lowered visibility to zero.
Both directions of the interstate northwest of New Orleans were closed due to the vehicular accident. The super fog that caused the zero visibility in the area was from marsh wildfires that have been smoking since July flaring up.
Louisiana Car Pileup
The mix of smoke and fog has choked out greater New Orleans for two days and the National Weather Service (NWS) was forced to issue Dense Fog Advisories. This affected the majority of southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Meteorologists also called this a super fog as moisture released from the damp smoldering marshes and knocked visibility below 10 feet.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m. on northbound lanes, roughly 19 tractor-trailers crashed on the interstate and three were later fully engulfed in flames that spread to other cars. Then, another multi-car chain reaction accident caused the blockage on southbound lanes, as per Fox Weather.
There were also reports of a third pileup in the area as the remainder of the accidents occurred near the major three. Authorities also noted that a dozen agencies were calling into the area to help with efforts and crews had been called even if it was their day off.
There was one eyewitness who said that there may have been anywhere from 75 to 150 cars that were involved in the massive pileup. He was taking his daughter to the airport when he was forced to stop short to avoid the crash. On the other hand, authorities estimate 30 injuries in the 25 crashes so far.
The eyewitness added that he could not see the cars ahead of him due to the super fog and that he noticed the cars that were stopped on GPS before he hit the brakes. He said he was inside a little pocket of about 15 cars with no damage and noted that they could hear collisions behind them after a few seconds.
Threats of the Super Fog
St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said that all first responders were forced to go on foot because the crashes had left the area "completely gridlocked." According to CNN, he added that rescue efforts could probably take some time to complete.
Louisiana has been battling unprecedented wildfires, extreme heat, and relentless drought since the summer. Exceptional drought is the highest category tracked by the United States Drought Monitor and was found to be in place across 62% of the region.
Officials also noted that residents should expect to see repeated instances of super fog through at least mid-week. Meteorologists from the NWS said that this is due to a dome of high pressure that is sitting over southern Louisiana.
In a statement, the director of the weather services' Slidell office, Ben Schott, said that the dense fog happened through a pretty normal setup for this time of year. The factors include clear skies, light winds, and the overnight temperature dropping to the dew point temperature, said NOLA.