Tumbleweeds blocked a Washington state highway, trapping people in their cars

CNN

Several people got trapped in their cars Tuesday after strong winds blew a thicket of tumbleweeds into a portion of a state highway, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris Thorson. 

We’re still working on clearing the roadway with @WSDOT_East . We are unsure when the roadway will be opened. Tumbleweeds are piled 20-30 feet in places. S.C. pic.twitter.com/zFbA3luscg

— Trooper C. Thorson (@wspd3pio) January 1, 2020

Several vehicles and one semi truck slowed down because of low visibility and eventually came to a stop, Thorson said. Then they got covered in tumbleweeds, rendering them unable to proceed.

The piles of tumbleweeds were as high as 20 to 30 feet in some places, Thorson said, blocking SR 240 around mile post 10, about 20 miles west of Richland in the south-central part of the state.

Crews from the Washington state Department of Transportation worked through the night to help clear the roadway. The road was closed for about 10 hours and reopened around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Thorson said.

#tumblegeddon After 10 hours of SR 240 being closed last night on New Year’s Eve, it was opened around 0430 thanks to @WSDOT_East We still have one abandon car trapped in the tumbleweeds that was found at daylight, luckily no one was in it. pic.twitter.com/df7XbnqafE

— Trooper C. Thorson (@wspd3pio) January 1, 2020

One car was found trapped in the tumbleweeds after the sun rose, but it had been abandoned by its driver, he said. No injuries were reported.

“A pretty incredible sight from SR 240 where tumbleweed closed he road for 10hours last night,” the Washington State Department of Transportation East tweeted. “Big thanks to our crews who worked through the night to clear roadway.”

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/01/us/tumbleweeds-block-washington-highway-trnd/index.html