GPS gone wrong: California man stranded in winter storm after directions take him through feet of snow
The man came upon stopped traffic due to heavy snow along Interstate 5 in southern Oregon and followed his GPS's suggestion of a detour right into a snow-clogged side road, where he became trapped.
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AZALEA, Ore. – A California man picked up his new truck in Oregon and followed GPS directions back home during a winter storm that struck the southern Oregon mountains over the weekend but became stranded when his GPS rerouted him around snow delays on the main interstate, leaving him stuck in two feet of snow on his side road detour.
Douglas County, Oregon, deputies got a text message from the man asking for help on Saturday after midnight, as the man was in too remote an area for 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 stormy weather forecast stop him from picking up his new car on Friday from Corvallis, Oregon. The 1996 Ford F-150 pickup could handle snow – or so he thought.
The man took an unplowed road off the interstate.
(Douglas County Sheriff's Office / FOX Weather)
The 34-year-old told Douglas County Sheriff's deputies that he was following Google directions back 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.
GPS takes man on unplowed road in snowstorm
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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The car slid off the road into a ditch with snow two feet deep.
(Douglas County Sheriff's Office / FOX Weather)
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 4x4 team to off-road around the truck and rescue the man.
File: A photo of a snowcat designed for navigating unplowed roads.
(Martin Schutt/picture alliance / Getty Images)
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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Rescue crews retrieved the man but had to leave the car until the snow cleared.
(Douglas County Sheriff's Office / FOX Weather)
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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 remained under a Winter Storm Warning until Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds of cars stranded in California during blizzard in Sierra Nevada
He wasn't the only driver trapped in a car by the heavy snow due to the sprawling winter storm.
Blizzard conditions raged for multiple days in California's Sierra Nevada over the weekend, where areas around Lake Tahoe saw several feet of snow and mountain peaks at the nearby ski resorts measured 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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Watch: Vehicles stuck on I-80 during epic blizzard in California
Video recorded in California shows a line of vehicles trapped on a snow Interstate 80 during a blizzard that brought several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains.
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."
Cars buried under three feet of snow in California
A woman in South Lake Tahoe had a tough time even finding her car after the weekend blizzard dropped feet of snow across California mountains. Sugar Bowl Ski Resort saw more than 10 feet of snow since Friday.
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.