Hundreds trapped for second day on highway near Sarnia

John Stover took this photo from inside his car on Hwy. 402 near Wyoming, Ont. this morning. He spent the night in his car after being caught in a snowstorm.Lesley Ciarula Taylor - Staff Reporter

"Stranded for more than 24 hours on a desolate stretch of Hwy 402 in a blizzard, John Stover and Larry Adams were “down to gas fumes.”

They and hundreds of people spent a frigid, lonely day and night in cars and trucks between Sarnia and London, unable to budge as snow piled up to two metres in some spots, said Ontario Provincial Police.

“We have rescue vehicles stuck in the snow and snow plows stuck in snow, so it’s very difficult terrain right now,” Sgt. Dave Rektor said.

“First, we were hoping for the snowmobile. Then we were hoping for the helicopter. We may have to bail soon and cozy up with the semi-trailer,” said Stover...."

Stover and Adams had set out at 6:15 a.m. Monday from Strathroy for work in the chemical belt in Sarnia. The squall whipped up so quickly, they were between exits for 15 scant minutes when crawling traffic “came to a complete standstill at 8:30. We’ve been here ever since.”

“We’re tight on gas,” Stover said from his car. “We’ve run the car every hour for 10 minutes. Luckily, Larry had a work function and had three loaves of banana-type bread. People around us had water...."read more