Icy Conditions Make For Dangerous, Even Deadly, Morning Commute In Westchester County, Connecticut
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Icy conditions caused damage and inconvenience on Wednesday in Westchester County.
They also led to tragic loss on the ramp to the northbound Bronx River Parkway from the Cross County, where one person died in a 10-car pileup.
Two miles away at the Pelhamdale Road exit off the Hutchinson River Parkway, vehicle after vehicle was damaged as drivers spun out on the layer of ice that coated the road.
BREAKING: multiple vehicle crashes with injury at Pelhamdale exit from Hutchinson River Parkway in Westchester County. Black ice on road causing incredible dangerous mess pic.twitter.com/Ld2QxNQu9a
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) January 5, 2022
CBS2's Tony Aiello captured video showing airbags deployed. The driver of the car was taken to Lawrence Hospital.
"We can't find his wallet or his cellphone," the driver's father, Anley Roberts, told Aiello. "I don't know how he came out alive. It's real bad."
A snowplow arrived to scrape accident debris off the road, and tow truck drivers hauled away wreck after wreck.
READ MORE: Deadly Crash Reported In East Rutherford As Several Cars Slide Off Roads Across New Jersey
"Crazy morning, Tony, crazy morning," said Glenn Pantore, of Safeway Towing. "Cars all over the place. I've got to worry about my guys getting hurt or getting my trucks racked up."
On the Potter Avenue bridge over I-95, a two-car collision sent both drivers to the hospital.
"It's incredible. It just came out of nowhere," Bobby Pantore, of Safeway Towing, added.
Driver Elsa Vargas told Aiello she tried to brake, but her car kept sliding.
"I went to stop here by the right light, but I can't... the moment I go to put my feet on the brakes, the car no stop," she said.
Treacherous conditions were far and wide in Westchester, including on I-287 where a fuel truck spun out, and I-87 was closed northbound near Greenburgh due to multiple accidents.
The problems extended into Connecticut. Video from a Ring doorbell shows a car sliding down a Bristol street.
Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giuletti explained why roads were not brined in advance.
"We haven't had an ice storm since 2014 like this. You can't use salt brine before a rain storm. You put it down, it's washed off by the rain that comes in, and you can't put rock salt down until you actually have ice. Rock salt is not gonna work for you," Giuletti said.
Watch Tony Aiello's report --
As CBS2's Cory James reports, it wasn't just the roads. Downed trees left Juan Rivera and hundreds of other Amtrak passengers delayed for more than a day.
"We were kind of stranded for ... 20 hours in the middle of the mountains in Virginia," Rivera said.
The Brooklyn resident was supposed to be back in New York City on Monday. He finally arrived Wednesday evening.
"The water ran out by, like, 9 p.m., and we only had Diet Sprite," he said.
Amtrak would not confirm water not being available for passengers, but did say it "worked with each customer for them to either return to their original destination or reschedule their trip."
"I think moving forward we really need to have better communications ... so that this doesn't happen to me or any elderly people," Rivera said.
Amtrak says all trains that were stranded because of severe weather have since made it to their scheduled destinations.
CBS2's Cory James contributed to this report.