As a result of a heavy snow storm in the US state of Virginia, hundreds of people had to spend the night in their cars on a freeway in the freezing cold. US media unanimously reported on Tuesday that traffic on the I-95 freeway south of the capital Washington had come to a complete standstill after several trucks skidded. The Virginia Transportation Department said on Twitter that an attempt would be made to free the trapped people via nearby exits. Video footage showed hundreds of cars on the icy road.

An NBC correspondent wrote on Twitter that he had been stuck with his dog on the highway for eleven hours overnight.

No rescue or recovery vehicles came during that time.

CNN spoke on the phone to a woman who had been stuck near Stafford for a good ten hours.

The traffic authority said the important north-south freeway I-95 was still closed in both directions at Fredericksburg on Tuesday morning (local time).

Because of Monday's snowstorm, almost 300,000 households in Virginia were still without electricity on Tuesday, as an overview on the Poweroutage.us website showed.

The utility Dominion had warned that in some areas it could take "several days" before the power supply was restored.

In the nearby capital Washington, according to the weather service, almost 20 centimeters of fresh snow was measured within a few hours. The federal government had already instructed its officials and employees on Sunday evening not to come to work on Monday. There were hardly any cars in the city. Back streets were still uncleared hours after the last snowfall. The reopening of the schools after the holidays in Washington was postponed by one day to Thursday in order to leave enough time for the necessary corona tests before the start of classes.

US President Joe Biden also felt the blizzard first-hand: on his return from his home state of Delaware, there were delays when he arrived at Andrews military airport due to the snow.

When Biden left the government plane in a lashing wind, snow rushed towards him from the right side.

As the 79-year-old went down the stairs, he held on to the railing with his left hand, and he seemed to be holding the right hand over his ear.

According to journalists who were traveling with him, the drive of his motorcade back to the White House was unusually slow because of the snow obstructions.