Interstate 55 in Mississippi was completely shut down Tuesday after icy conditions caused 18 wheelers to become stuck and no one could pass. Clyde Bynum and his son, CJ, went to the area Tuesday night in their Jeeps. The roadway became increasingly dangerous as temperatures plunged below freezing. And with so many motorists stuck they would probably have to spend the night there and if they ran out of fuel it could become deadly. The backup was over 100 miles long!
Clyde tells NewsNation the trucks weren’t able to climb the icy hills, so he and his son used special ropes attached to their Jeeps to pull the vehicles to safer ground. He estimates that over two days they helped move hundreds of semi trucks, with more still lined up for miles. Clyde says "the #1 question people have is how can your lil ol Jeep pull a semi? You know, for us, it’s not tough. We use what’s called a kinetic rope. It’s kind of like a rubber band, and then we use the weight of these two Jeeps and stretch the rubber band, and then it pulls tight and yanks them. The kinetic energy is how we get them moving with Jeeps compared to 80,000-pound 18-wheelers.”
Clyde says many drivers were forced to spend the night in their vehicles and were relieved to see help arrive. Some of the grateful motorists tried to pay them, but they refused. For years, Clyde has been helping stranded motorists during winter storms. He compared the situation this week on I-55 to a severe ice storm in 1994.