Just after 8 a.m. Monday, January 3, just as a massive snowstorm ramped up, state police troopers began receiving calls for help on the highway near Fredericksburg. Tractor-trailers crashed, stranding thousands of drivers for most of the day.

At 4 a.m. today, the Virginia Department of Transportation closed a 53-mile stretch of the highway between Dumfries and Ruther Glen, near Kings Dominion. The agency gave the order to remove stranded cars on the road, adding it is impossible to know how many drivers or cars became stranded on the highway.

According to Prince William County spokesman Matt Smolksy, emergency crews deliver MREs (meals ready to eat) to stranded drivers on I-95. A 53-mile stretch of the highway between Dumfries and Carmel Chruch, near Kings Dominion, closed about 5 a.m.

About 30 tractor-trailers became stranded near milepost 110 at Thornburg. At milepost 136 near the Stafford regional airport, more tractor-trailers became stranded.

Icy conditions on the highway led to multiple stranded tractor-trailers overnight. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, drivers should avoid the thoroughfare while tow truck works to remove the broken down vehicles and snow plows work to clear the highway.

Late last night, highway again shut down a portion of I-95 in hard-hit Stafford County, where more than a foot of snow fell Monday. Multiple trucks became stranded at milepost 136, near the county’s airport.