30 cars damaged in crash that closed Interstate 40 near Jones Sausage Road for 3 hours

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A chain reaction crash closed Interstate 40 at Jones Sausage Road in Raleigh for three hours Wednesday afternoon.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the first crash happened just before 5 p.m.

Storms in the area are being blamed for the initial crash because a car hydroplaned, lost control and hit the concrete median. That then caused other cars to crash.

In total, 30 cars were involved in six separate crashes. Twenty-two tow trucks responded to the scene, towing away 17 cars.

Seven people were transported to nearby hospitals with minor injuries, according to Wake County EMS.

"The emergency people were saying they've never seen anything like this," said Bernard Griffin.

Griffin was driving home from work in Garner and not long after merging onto I-40 from the Highway 70 ramp, he quickly felt the loss of control under the wheels of his Nissan.

"So I'm sliding toward the next car and I'm like, 'I'm not hitting anybody in the back,'" he said. ''So what I did is just put it up on the guardrail, literally up on the guardrail.'"

Griffin's car was one of the many that were towed off the interstate.