NEW ORLEANS — Monday morning, Ryan Helg flew his drone 400 feet above the fog and captured video footage of the smoke from a multi-vehicle crash on I-55.
Helg said he intended to fly my drone above the fog and catch the top of the Manchac railroad bridge, but the fog didn’t clear until 400 feet up. "When I got above the fog, I noticed black smoke. It was before I heard about the unfortunate pile-up on I-55 southbound," Helg said.
Lousiana State Police said there were three clusters of crashed vehicles, and at least two vehicles caught fire. At least two people were killed.
I-55 is currently closed in both directions for an unknown amount of time. I-10 is also closed in both directions. Traffic is being diverted to I-310. I-55 and Highway 51 remain closed.
Fog is expected again on Tuesday morning. WWL-TV Meteorologist Alexa Trischler said, "The ingredients are there: high moisture content and smoke particles from the fires. Plus, winds will still be calm tomorrow morning. This can create a foggy commute on both the north and south shores of Lake Pontchartrain."
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.