Hundreds of drivers were stranded for about 24 hours on a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 95 outside Washington, D.C., when a tractor-trailer jackknifed into the snow causing a chain reaction of other vehicles to lose control. No one was hurt in the collision.

Between seven and 11 inches of snow accumulated during the blizzard on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

State police had cautioned against driving unless it was absolutely necessary. Cars were stranded, leaving drivers, passengers, children and pets with limited heat, food and water.

Crews worked to remove stopped trucks, plow snow, de-ice the roadway and guide stranded motorists to the nearest exits.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was among those stranded when he began his two-hour commute to the Capitol on Monday.

“I’m still not near the Capitol,” Kaine tweeted on Tuesday morning.

Kaine said he was stranded for over 19 hours.

"Right now, things aren’t moving as you know and as you can see on the cameras,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told radio station WTOP on Tuesday. "We need to get the cars and the trucks off the roads. We need to keep people safe, and then we need to clear them.”

Northam said emergency workers are continuing to clear the roads and set up warming shelters as needed.

The snowstorm caused 400,000 power outages from Georgia to Maryland, with 300,000 of them occurring in Virginia.