My friend at least was able to get to a gas station a few hours into the debacle (she had topped off her tank that morning). These thousands of cars on the GW Parkway between DC and the Beltway had nowhere to go -- it's a scenic highway, no gas stations, stores or anything else. Only a couple of exits to other roads that were also fiascos.

At least if I had been stuck there (literally not moving an inch for hours), I could have brewed hot cocoa, have bottled water, plenty of food (energy bars, Pop-Tarts, beef jerky). And I have tp and Kleenex in the car, sleeping bag to keep warm, chemical warmers, blah, blah.

The fuel situation would be scary, don't know how long even a full tank would last. Most of these peops probably didn't have a full tank -- there are no gas stations downtown (K Street corridor/White House) or between there and the GW Parkway (most merge onto the Parkway from the Potomac River bridges.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/26/AR2011012608980.html?hpid=topnews

Snow gridlock traps commuters for up to 13 hours

Denise Borders spent nearly 13 grueling hours on the Parkway - "just sitting for hours. Literally. Sitting, not moving" - without food, without a bathroom, without sleep. There were trees down and people whose cars got stuck trying to turn around and get off the parkway, Borders said. But for most of the drivers on the road, the snow was less of a problem than the complete gridlock that enveloped them.

"You saw people get out and have to relieve themselves out in the street. It was horrible," Borders said after finally arriving at her home in Reston, close to 5:30 a.m.