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Courtney Orton reportingA lot of people spent their Valentine's Day digging out. The big snowstorm made highways treacherous along the Wasatch Front. The morning commute was a crawl along Interstate 15.
Some people were even forced to abandon their cars. Last night, hundreds got stuck for hours on S.R. 92.
Heavy winds and snowy conditions made that stretch of the Alpine Highway impassable.
Tow truck driver Rob Face describes the scene as, "Chaos, you couldn't see 6 feet in front of you. You couldn't see the lights in the truck, you couldn't see in the cars. You couldn't walk. Your coat felt frozen. It was gridlock."
That was the scene last night. "We had cars that were practically buried in snow, and we were trying to get people out of them, and I've never seen anything like it," says Darren Paul, with Lehi City Police Department.
This morning those stranded cars were covered in snow as they lined S.R. 92.
The tow trucks started early to make way for snow plows to get the road open again.
Face worked all night, as did many other tow truck drivers. Face picked up 43 cars himself and brought them to his lot in Lehi. He says, "It's a lot of work because of the snow drifts were completely covering vehicles. We didn't even know there were vehicles there until you see a mirror out of the snow bank, then you have to dig down under vehicle. It takes a lot of work."
Those who abandoned their cars aren't happy. Lisa Taylor said, "My car was stranded. They told me I couldn't get it, that the street was closed all night, and when my husband went to go get it this morning, they wouldn't let him come get it. Now, I have to pay $225. It's like lemon juice on an injury."
Face says, "People aren't happy about it, but it had to be done. We had to open up the roads, get it cleared."
People are still picking up their cars from lots across Utah County.
