Stranded: Travelers describe being stuck for hours on KY interstates during winter storm.

As snow started to fall in Central Kentucky Thursday, traffic interstates and roads came to a halt, leaving drivers stuck for hours, in some cases overnight.

Adam Edelen was stuck in the snow on Interstate 64 West for more than 17 hours.

The former state auditor and Democratic candidate for governor was trapped at Mt. Sterling due to a multiple car pileup.

Edelen and a colleague were driving back from Charleston to Lexington. The two initially planned to stay overnight in West Virginia but didn’t want to be snowed in there.

The trip began smoothly. They first saw snow in Ashland. At about 3 p.m. they hit traffic. They spent about an hour working through back roads in Winchester, but gave up and returned back to the interstate.

Edelen shared updates on Twitter starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, posting “Never been forced to spend the night in a vehicle. First time for everything, I reckon. We’ll see.”

At about 9:30 p.m. it settled in for Edelen they would be spending the night on the interstate. He attempted to call Mt. Sterling hotels, but all the lines were busy.

Edelen said being stuck that long was uncomfortable but not dangerous. They had their coats, water, Jolly Ranchers candy, soft drinks and a full tank of gas.

At 11 p.m., Edelen posted a video update from his dark truck.

“We’re doing fine,” he said. “Let’s keep this in perspective. My grandparent’s generation, our grandparent’s generation beat the Nazis. Me sleeping on the interstate in a warm truck is not the worse thing that has ever happened to me. Let’s think about the people who aren’t as well prepared.”

Edelen said local emergency management and friend and Transportation Secretary Jim Gray checked in on him.

Edelen said because of the wind chill that made it feel like 0 degrees outside, there was little communication between the drivers, which were majority commercial truckers. If they opened the truck doors, it would take about 20 minutes to get it warm again.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, Edelen posted again saying they were moving after more than nine stationary hours.

“You can imagine the relief,” Edelen said in an interview Friday afternoon.

He said it was like a tour through a war zone with vehicles in the median and cars wedged under tractor trailers.

Once he got home after 6 a.m., Edelen went to bed exhausted. He barely slept overnight with first responders occasionally whizzing by.

Father Jim Sichko also provided live updates on Twitter after getting stuck on Interstate 75 South.

Sichko ran a couple of errands before the snow started to fall Thursday morning. He stopped at the post office and at Starbucks. He started to head back home shortly before noon as snow had begun to fall. Generally the two stops would take him a maximum of an hour. He was stuck on the interstate for six hours before he could return to his Richmond home.

Sichko Tweeted multiple videos. He said at 4:30 p.m. that the interstate was pretty bad and held up a bottle of Thomas S. Moore bourbon thanking the bourbon fairy that came by.

“I just ask for the prayers for the people involved in this accident,” he said in the video. “I understand that it’s going to be a lengthy, lengthy stay. Don’t worry about me. My one kidney and I are fine. You got to enjoy the best of it people, life can always be worse.”

The video was aired on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Friday night.

Fallon responded to Sichko’s video calling him “Father Jim of the Heavenly Buzzed” and said “after that he got a visit from the DUI fairy.”

In his second video, he said he would walk home but he was not prepared. Sichko left his home wearing a hoodie, pajama pants and sandals.

Sichko said in an interview years ago he was advised to always keep a blanket, snacks, bottled water and an ice scraper in his car, but he didn’t follow the advice. Now, he does, he said.

Sichko said he wasn’t concerned about food and water and had enough gas.

Once traffic started moving he was very thankful but cautious. Occasionally, cars would inch up and then come to a halt again. It took him 10 minutes to drive slowly and deliberately home.

He posted a couple more videos, including one in his garage after 7 p.m.

Sichko said he feels very blessed that he and others were OK, especially after motorists were stranded on Interstate 95 in Virginia for more than a day earlier this week.

He does question why the roads deteriorated so quickly despite knowing about the winter weather days in advance.

Once he returned home, Sichko greeted his dog, ate some hot soup and went to bed. He was knocked out from the emotions, he said.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 3:15 PM.