AZALEA, OREGON – A California man picked up his new car in Oregon and followed GPS directions back home during the recent blizzard. The GPS rerouted him around snow delays on the main interstate, but he ended up stuck in two feet of snow.
Douglas County, Oregon, deputies got a text message on Saturday after midnight. The man didn’t even have enough cell service to call. He said he was stuck in the snow and couldn’t get out.
Juan Carlos Torres-Esquivel didn’t let the weather stop him from picking up his new car on Friday from Corvallis. The 1996 Ford F150 pickup could handle snow, or so he thought.
The 34-year-old told Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies that he was following Google directions to his Santa Rosa, California, home when I-5 came to a stop in the falling snow, just 80 miles north of the California line.
Google suggested he get off the highway and take Snow Creek Road. The name of the road should have been the red flag.
“Torres-Esquivel made it approximately 5 miles up Snow Creek Road before sliding the passenger side of the vehicle into a deep ditch and getting the vehicle stuck in approximately 24 (inches) of snow,” said the sheriff’s office in a statement. “He was unprepared for the conditions and was unsuccessful in attempting to dig the vehicle out without a shovel.”
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At the same time, Santa Rosa was in the 50s with rain showers, so he did not have much mountain snow experience.
The Search and Rescue team followed the man’s cell location, but the snowcat got stuck behind an abandoned U-Haul rental truck on the road. The sheriff dispatched a 4×4 team to off-road around the truck and rescue the man.
Don’t blindly follow GPS, the office warned in the statement.
“GPS devices are often set to direct drivers through the fastest route to their destination. Oftentimes, this means direction through non-maintained road systems, including forest roads,” Lt. Brad O’Dell said. “Blindly following GPS navigation can potentially lead to dangerous situations and have serious consequences. Although travel delays can be disruptive, it is best to remain on routes that are maintained.”
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Torres-Esquivel had to leave his new truck in the ditch while search and rescue dropped him off in a nearby town. Azalea is under a Winter Storm Warning until Tuesday afternoon.
He wasn’t the only driver trapped in a car by the heavy snow. Over the weekend, areas around Lake Tahoe, California, saw over 10 feet of snow and wind gusts to 190 mph.
Caltrans crews had to pull several stuck cars out of deep snow just to plow the highways.
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About 80% of Caltrans snow movers broke down at the central hub, making clearing the heavy, wet snow almost impossible.
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Residents of South Lake Tahoe could barely find their cars under the 3-plus feet of snow.
“The snow berm, it goes to almost like over 3.5ft here in the driveway,” said the homeowner on this posted video. “You can see the berms. Probably about four feet in. I’m gonna try. I’m trying to shovel today.”
The Pacific Northwest and Northern California will get another round of snow in the next couple of days, up to 1 to 2 feet. Crews will have until the weekend before snow threatens again.