Snowstorm leaves drivers stranded on I-20 in West Texas for 13 hours

While a few inches of snow blanketed parts of north Texas on New Years Eve, heavier snowfall in west and central Texas also halted traffic on Interstate 20.

The Texas Department of Transportation said I-20 was never closed between Abilene and Midland. But traffic stopped for 13 hours as several 18-wheel vehicles stopped until the ice and snow could be cleared.

RELATED: Snow falls on New Years Eve in areas west of Fort Worth

Tammy Bautista and hundreds of others were stranded on I-20 east of Big Spring, Texas, from about 8:30 p.m. Thursday to 10:30 a.m. Friday.

“My current situation, we’ve been here since 1pm! Stuck!” she said. “I have no food or water. We didn’t go to … we have to go to the bathroom.

Bautista and her 13-year-old autistic son were on their way to Midland to visit family members. She said it was a lack of information that added to the frustration.

“And the terrain heading east is functional. So I don’t understand why DPS or TxDOT didn’t come here,” she said.

There were no major crashes to clear. Instead, a spokeswoman for TxDOT said the 18-wheelers were stopped on the highway because the icy conditions were too dangerous.

The roads had been pretreated but then had to be cleared after the storm, the spokeswoman said.

“A driver that went out and gave people a big old box of crackers, offered them water, you know. He had a limited supply, so you just know the most needy people who are older, I told him to go ahead and help them, ”Bautista said.

Victoria Zamarripa and her husband were fortunate enough to get out and walk to a gas station before the traffic stopped.

“When we got to Big Spring it started having a blizzard snowstorm,” he says.

“We had our son and he is 4 months old. We didn’t want to stay in the cold car and we only had half a tank of gas,” she said.

Larry Martin was driving from Lubbuck to Dallas for the US Post Office when the storm hit.

“You lined up the cars in one lane because you know that on a two-lane highway only one lane was passable,” he said.

He said TxDOT would clear the roads, but that didn’t help for a long time.

“They would try to clarify things, but it would freeze as soon as they passed,” he said.

For some, the ordeal served as a New Year’s resolution.

“Make sure to check the weather,” Zamarripa said.

“I will never forget this new year in my life,” said Bautista.

TxDOT has a website and hotline for people to check road conditions. Visit drivetexas.org or call 800-452-9292.