'Flash Spudding': Potato Truck Overturns On North Carolina motorway - NPR

ALERT: Mash destruction on I-77 SB at West Blvd. CLOSED. heaps of potatoes on roadway #cltraffic #clt pic.twitter.com/mPaoQvS98l

— traffic group 9 (@TrafficTeam9) might also 6, 2016

Commuters confronted scenes of "mash destruction" this morning on Interstate 77 in Charlotte, N.C.

it truly is correct — I-seventy seven South become suffering from spuds after a tractor-trailer overturned at around 2 a.m. ET Friday, in keeping with the North Carolina branch of Transportation.

We're speakme about 50,000 pounds of potatoes, in response to local news reports. The street was closed for hours, developing principal site visitors backups as authorities tried to clear the tubers the usage of tractors and snowplows.

The truck's driver noted he fell asleep "and hit a barrier and overturned," state troopers instructed The linked Press. The wire service provides that "he changed into taken to a health center for injuries that didn't appear to be critical."

Charlotte's WSOC-tv says the potato spill stretched for tons of of yards. the first photos of the scene demonstrate the spuds glowing in the streetlights and protecting the total highway.

lamentably, most of these taters doubtless don't seem to be decent to consume at this element as a result of a fuel spill, in accordance with newshounds on the scene.

replace: Some potatoes are soaked in diesel gasoline. Crews will be cautious with how it's disposed. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/bmVm3Fd2Jv

— Gina Esposito (@GinaWSOC9) may 6, 2016

although, The Charlotte Observer studies that "a few hundred pounds of potatoes had fallen into grass close an exit ramp, had been not contaminated and could be donated to a meals gleaning group."

We're nevertheless engaged on the potato spill. in the meantime, you folks are cracking us up with the potato puns ? we will update later on the taters

— NCDOT I-77 (@NCDOT_I77) may additionally 6, 2016

Social media lit up with the information. try one of the reaction:

The intent i am practically an hour late to work is bc 50,000 kilos of potatoes are scattered on 77. I don't know whether to laugh or cry

— Mallory Boyd (@malllycat) may also 6, 2016

did not demand any "flash spudding" on the roads these days. H/T considered one of our producers for that. pleased the driver is adequate. https://t.co/JUDLf13k1l

— Keith Monday (@kmondayWSOC9) may also 6, 2016

we can in no way BE FRITTATA. we are able to at all times BE POTATOES #BravePotatoes #Charlotte I-77 #potatoes #NorthCarolina https://t.co/g1o6bGSDBc

— Marie Belanger (@MsMarieB) may 6, 2016

respectable luck to each person dodging potatoes on seventy seven. I heard there became *mash* destruction #clttraffic #PotatoProblem pic.twitter.com/WDR1KzNtMK

— Ashley A.D. Davis (@ashleyaddavis) may also 6, 2016

"Y'all 50,000 pounds of potatoes just spilled on I-77!" "Let's hope a truck of butter, sour cream, & publisher 1st baron verulam spills subsequent to them." #OfficeTalk

— SouthernFriedCotton (@SoFriCo) can also 6, 2016

@NCDOT_I77 stand again individuals , let a professional handle this #potatoes I-seventy seven #mashdestruction pic.twitter.com/ezaukk7EWx

— Cat Church (@CatVictory) may also 6, 2016

both-manner has a historical past of overlaying peculiar roadway spills. listed here are a few you could recall:

Fourteen million angry bees set free in Idaho, the place they terrorized rescue personnel and local television journalists. A "river of honey" turned into reported at the scene.

About 5,000 chickens escaped a truck in Northern California after two big rigs collided. As you could expect, they have been "attempting to pass the street" despite the efforts of rescue laborers.

thousands of piglets received unfastened from a truck in Ohio, and authorities spent hours trying to corral the animals.

And from member station KPCC, a wrecked truck spilled about 100 gallons of olive oil near Riverside, Calif.