I-15 Chaos Near Arimo

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Story Published: Dec 30, 2007 at 5:56 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 7, 2008 at 12:16 PM MST

By Jeff Robinson

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Whiteout conditions turn I-15 into a nightmare in Bannock County this afternoon, backing up traffic for miles as the accidents stacked up.

"Basically, just mayhem out there," said Idaho State Police Lt. Eric Dayley.

Mayhem for the police, and mayhem for drivers, who were either stuck going nowhere, or sliding off the road and getting into accidents.

"Driving down the highway, it was just blowing the car. It felt like it was gonna blow me off the road. It's pretty bad," said Idaho Falls resident Hyrum Steed. "It's terrible, it seems like there's snow everywhere blowing; it slows you down quite a bit."

"Whiteout conditions, ground blizzard, zero visibility, multiple crashes, we've had police cars hit, some injuries," said Lt. Dayley.

Idaho State troopers had their hands full while the wrecks were cleared up.

"We're trying to clear out the debris and the vehicles that are in there, so right now we're re-routing traffic on the old roads, trying to get traffic around, so they're not stacked up here at the Flying J," said Lt. Dayley.

Traffic was re-routed at Jensen Road, then further up at Highway 30.

"We're taking them off at exit 47, then they're going down the old roads. We're trying to have pilot cars go to help people find their way," said Lt. Dayley.

"There are spots, it gets pretty bad there, it gets you all at once," said Wyoming resident Jeffrey King.

State troopers say if you're thinking about coming this way, you might want to stay at home tonight.

"It's supposed to blow over at 11 o'clock tonight, so if you don't have to travel, I wouldn't," said Lt. Dayley.

We're told none of the accidents had serious injuries. I-15 has been re-opened in both directions.

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