At least 7 dead as ‘super fog’ blankets New Orleans, causing pile-ups
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NEW ORLEANS - A dense “super fog” hovered over New Orleans on Monday, shrouding the area in an impenetrable mist that led to traffic pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles and left at least seven people dead, the authorities said.
At least 158 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes, which began just before 9am local time (10pm Singapore time) on Interstate 55 north-west of New Orleans, the Louisiana State Police said, noting that fog had been a “contributing factor”.
An additional 25 people were injured, some of them critically, the police said.
After the accidents, which involved vehicles in both northbound and southbound lanes, some vehicles caught fire, according to the police.
A tanker truck carrying “hazardous liquid” was being removed, the police said, adding that it was possible that “additional fatalities could be located”. State police urged anyone with a missing family member to contact the agency.
Aerial images posted to the state police’s Facebook page showed several pile-ups on Interstate 55, including some cars and trucks that appeared to be charred.
The thick fog came from a combination of moisture in the air and smoke from sporadic marsh fires across the Mississippi River Valley toward Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Mr Tyler Stanfield, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in New Orleans.
“It was the perfect storm,” Mr Stanfield said.
While super fog is uncommon, it is not an unheard-of phenomenon. New Orleans typically experiences super fog twice a year. It is usually fuelled by marsh fires, which have become more frequent in the area in 2023 because of drier conditions, Mr Stanfield said.
The fog began to set in at around 3am on Monday and became dense around sunrise, he said. Visibility for drivers was down to as low as 200m.
The state police closed parts of Interstates 10, 55 and 310 on Monday morning and warned that, because of the heavy fog, “drivers should avoid the area if possible and use alternate routes”. Interstates 10 and 310 South later reopened, but portions of Interstate 55 remained closed on Monday evening.
By the afternoon, most of the fog had cleared, with the last of it lingering in the suburbs west of New Orleans, Mr Stanfield said. NYTIMES
