If anyone is thinking of traveling to the Florida Keys today, don't.

[tavernier]

There was a huge accident this morning on US 1 and both sides of the highway are completely closed to the point where all schools were canceled and the grocery stores are closed because the managers can’t get there to unlock the doors. Apparently several fatalities plus a house fire due to the crash, etc.

[catbyte]

1. Yikes. It sounds horrific.

[tavernier]

2. Yeah, it occurred at 4 a.m. and still closed down completely.

I just thought I would mention it because this is the time of the year when we get thousands of visitors daily and for some reason the mainland news just doesn’t show anything that doesn’t involve Miami. So travelers would be stuck for hours.

[mitch96]

3. When the Overseas highway gets messed up, everything gets shut down..

I use to travel that road alot and waited many hours when there was a big accident...uff
m

[Wounded Bear]

6. Yeah, really. Only alternative is a boat, I guess...nt

[Poiuyt]

7. My first thought was when that hurricane back in the 1930s knocked the train off the tracks

[mitch96]

11. Lots of people died in that one... They were finding bodies in the trees weeks later...

I think there is a memorial to the disaster along that route... Big Pine key? Marathon?
m

[Poiuyt]

14. I believe the memorial is in Islamorada

Ernest Hemingway was living in Key West when the hurricane struck and helped rescue the survivors.

[mitch96]

18. Interesting... I did not know that factoid... I knew he was a ambulance driver in WW1 so

It makes sense he would want to help...
m

[FM123]

4. Oh no! Such horrible news!

I wasn't planning on driving to the Keys today, but thanks so much for the info.

[Phoenix61]

5. How sad

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.jacksonville.com/news/20180306/4-killed-in-crash-that-shut-down-us-1-in-florida-keys%3ftemplate=ampart

[tavernier]

9. That's from 2018

[SlogginThroughIt]

8. Yeah. That and we are in the middle of a pandemic.

[tavernier]

10. This

https://www.keysnews.com/news/one-killed-in-early-morning-crash-on-u-s-1-at-mile-marker-98/article_8f26852e-75d9-11eb-a465-ef1ec9d4e007.html

[LizBeth]

12. One person, one car, large debris area and treating like a crime scene. Interesting. Thanks.

[tavernier]

13. Closed down the high school, middle school,

Montessori school, Winn Dixie grocery store, lots of businesses, and backed up heavy duty out of state and local traffic for miles and miles. But I got to stay home from work and play on DU.

Oh and plus, it started a house fire and knocked out the electricity up in Key Largo.

[LizBeth]

15. Right. Going over 100 mph, spreads it out. when reading I was concerned with lots of loss of life or

injury. I was glad to hear all this destruction and chaos was one can, what appears, one life. But ya....

[tavernier]

16. I'm always fearful that one of these accidents involve a kid

I work at high school and know many of them

[LizBeth]

17. Right. I can remember as a kid going 100 down a freeway, then got scary and slowed down.