FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Sen. Tim Kaine left his home in Richmond for his usual two-hour commute to the U.S. Capitol after Monday’s snowstorm, eager to negotiate voting rights legislation and preside over the Senate on Tuesday morning.
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Instead, he was stranded all night on a stretch of Interstate 95 where trucks lost control on the icy pavement, shutting down the East Coast’s main north-south corridor and trapping hundreds of drivers in temperatures that dropped to 15 degrees (minus 9 Celsius).
The Democrat told radio station WTOP that he worried about all the families with children or elderly passengers who were running out of fuel and food. Then he got a little envious, because at least they had body heat to share.
I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol. My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/Sz1b1hZJZ5
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022
“At some point I kind of made the switch from a miserable travel experience to a kind of survival project,” Kaine said when he was still stuck after 21 hours alone in his car.
But Kaine also described a camaraderie as strangers connected along the highway, including a Connecticut family who walked up and down lines of parked cars, sharing a bag of oranges they had planned to bring home from a Florida vacation.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kaine said. “I will never forget this.”
I just heard him on NPR. I suppose it is good that legislators share the hardships of the rest of us from time to time.
It’s an I’ll wind that blows no one good.