Traffic is at a standstill as a mixture of smoke and fog, known as "super fog" closed Interstate 10 in Louisiana on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. New Orleans police say a stretch of the interstate is closed Tuesday due to the smoke, fog and vehicle crashes. The closure is reminiscent of a super fog event on October 23, when seven people died and about two dozen were injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles on Interstate 55. (WVUE via AP)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's "super fog" that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly crash that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said.
The thoroughfare was closed due to smoke, fog and accidents involving multiple vehicles, New Orleans police said after the accident around 4:30 a.m. By late afternoon, all of the interstate's eastbound lanes were reopened and the westbound lanes were partially opened as crews continued clearing the road, police said.
In video from motorists, cars next to them disappear in the thick smoke. Sarah Trimble said she couldn't see the tail lights of the truck in front of her as she crossed railroad tracks on her way to work. In another video filmed by Connie Fiorella, smoke envelopes cars around her while the car just ahead of her nearly disappears from view except for the outline of its brake lights.
Smoke from fires near New Orleans is getting trapped under a very shallow layer of the atmosphere near the ground along Interstate 10 in eastern Orleans Parish, the National Weather Service said. As a result, motorists could see a quarter-mile (400 meters) or less, the weather service said.
"All that smoke has got nowhere to go," said Christopher Bannan, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service near New Orleans.
In some areas of the smoke, people can look straight up and see a clear sky in the daytime or stars at night, Bannan said. But if they look horizontally, they can't see ahead of them, he said.
The weather service issued a dense smoke advisory. The thick smoke also reduced visibility along Interstate 55 in Louisiana, the weather service said.
On Oct. 23, seven motorists died and about two dozen were injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles on I-55 near New Orleans amid a super fog, which is created by smoke from marsh fires mixing with dense fog.
Last month's wrecks have raised awareness in the area, "and it's on everyone's mind so they may be taking more precautions," Bannan said.
Traffic is at a standstill as a mixture of smoke and fog, known as "super fog" closed Interstate 10 in Louisiana on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. New Orleans police say a stretch of the interstate is closed Tuesday due to the smoke, fog and vehicle crashes. The closure is reminiscent of a super fog event on October 23, when seven people died and about two dozen were injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles on Interstate 55. (WVUE via AP)
Traffic is at a standstill as a mixture of smoke and fog, known as "super fog" closed Interstate 10 in Louisiana on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. New Orleans police say a stretch of the interstate is closed Tuesday due to the smoke, fog and vehicle crashes. The closure is reminiscent of a super fog event on October 23, when seven people died and about two dozen were injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles on Interstate 55. (WVUE via AP)
One of the vehicles involved in the New Orleans East Interstate 10 wreck following a morning of heavy smoke and fog on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly crash that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
Truck drivers wait for Interstate 10 in New Orleans East to reopen as emergency crews work on two separate wrecks that closed the roadway in both directions after a morning of heavy smoke and fog on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly crash that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
A green wrecking truck prepares to haul a red 18-wheeler truck near where it and a blue vehicle collided in heavy fog and smoke on Interstate 10 in New Orleans East on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly crash that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
Truck drivers wait for Interstate 10 in New Orleans East to reopen as emergency crews work on two separate wrecks that closed the roadway in both directions after a morning of heavy smoke and fog on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly crash that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
FILE - In this aerial photo, responders are seen near wreckage in the aftermath of a multi-vehicle pileup on I-55 in Manchac, La., Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. Dense smoke reminiscent of last month's “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly accident that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, Nov. 7, police said. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)