HUDSONVILLE, Mich. (AP) — More than 100 vehicles smashed into each other or slid off an interstate in Michigan on Monday as snow fueled by the Great Lakes blanketed the state.
The massive pileup prompted the Michigan State Police to close both directions of Interstate 196 Monday morning just southwest of Grand Rapids while officials worked to remove all the vehicles, including more than 30 semitrailer trucks. The State Police said there were numerous injuries, but no deaths had been reported.
Pedro Mata Jr. said he could barely see the cars in front of him as the snow blew across the road while driving 20-25 mph (32-40 kph) before the crash. He was able to stop his pickup safely, but then decided to pull his truck off the road into the median to avoid being hit from behind.
“It was a little scary just listening to everything, the bangs and booms behind you. I saw what was in front of me. I couldn’t see what was behind me exactly,” Mata said.
The crash is just the latest impact of the major winter storm moving across the country. The National Weather Service issued warnings about either extremely cold temperatures or the potential for winter storms across several states starting in northern Minnesota and stretching south and east into Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
A day earlier, snow fell as far south as the Florida Panhandle and made it harder for football players to hang onto the ball during playoff games in Massachusetts and Chicago. Forecasters warned Monday that freezing temperatures are possible overnight into Tuesday across much of north-central Florida and southeast Georgia.
The Ottawa County Sheriff's office in Michigan said multiple crashes and jack-knifed semis were reported along with numerous cars that slid off the road. Stranded motorists were being bused to Hudsonville High School, where they could call for help or arrange a ride.
Officials expected the road to be closed for several hours during the cleanup.
One of the companies helping remove the stranded cars, Grand Valley Towing, sent more than a dozen of its trucks to the scene of the chain-reaction crash. Several towing companies responded in the brutally cold weather.
“We’re trying to get as many vehicles out of there as quickly as possible, so we can get the road opened back up,” manager Jeff Westveld said.
Associated Press Writers Julie Walker in New York and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.
This image taken from video provided by WZZM shows part of a severe multi-car pileup leading Michigan State Police to shut down an interstate south of Grand Rapids Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Ottawa County, Mich. (WZZM via AP)
Snow falls as New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball off to running back Treveyon Henderson (32) during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Grounds crew members glow snow off the field at Soldier Field during the first half of an NFL football divisional playoff game between the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Israel President Isaac Herzog started a state visit Monday aimed at consoling grieving Australian Jews and improving bilateral relations by laying a wreath and stones at the site of an antisemitic attack in Sydney that left 15 dead.
Herzog met victims’ families and survivors of the Dec. 14 attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach. Only one of the two alleged gunmen survived following a gunbattle with police. Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act, murdering 15 people and wounding another 40 in what was Australia's worst mass shooting in 29 years.
Herzog laid the wreath and two stones he had brought from Jerusalem at the rain-swept Bondi Pavillion near the site of the massacre. The pavilion became on impromptu memorial in the days after the tragedy as flowers and cards were placed there.
The Israeli president said the stones would remain at Bondi in memory of the victims and as a reminder that good people of all faiths and nations “will continue to hold strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred, and that we shall overcome this evil together.”
“We were shaken to our core when we first heard about the Bondi Beach attack. Our heart missed a beat, like all Israelis and all Jews. And I’m here to express solidarity, friendship, and love,” Herzog told reporters.
“And I also believe that this is an opportunity to upgrade the relations between Israel and Australia because we are two democracies that share values together and we are confronting the roots of evil from all over the world. And we should do so together,” he added.
The visit to Bondi within hours of the president landing in Sydney with his wife Michal Herzog came with tight security. Police snipers were visible posted on Bondi roof tops.
Herzog will also visit Melbourne and the national capital Canberra before he returns to Israel on Thursday. Sydney and Melbourne are Australia’s largest cities and home to 85% of the nation’s Jewish population.
Protests were held in Sydney and Melbourne later Monday over how Israel has waged the war against the militant Hamas group in Gaza and treated Gaza's civilian population. Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war.
Mainstream Jewish groups have welcomed the visit of Herzog, a former leader of the centrist Labor Party who now plays a largely ceremonial role.
The smaller Jewish Council of Australia community group ran full-page ads in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers on Monday, endorsed with the names of 687 Australian Jews, that said: “Herzog does not speak for us and is NOT WELCOME HERE.”
“We refuse to let our collective grief be used to legitimize a leader whose rhetoric has been part of inciting a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has contributed to the illegal annexation of the West Bank,” the council’s executive officer Sarah Schwartz said.
Jewish leaders initiated the invitation extended by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Australia’s equivalent of Israel’s president, at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s request.
Albanese and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have been openly hostile toward each other since the Australian announced six months ago that his government would recognize a Palestinian state.
On Monday, Herzog said he welcomed the “positive steps” the Australian government had taken to tackle antisemitism since the Bondi attack, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.
The Australian Parliament last month rushed through legislation that lowers the threshold requirements for groups to be banned for hate speech.
The government also announced its highest form of public inquiry, a royal commission, would investigate the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism in general, as well as the circumstances of the Bondi shooting.
Herzog said he shared the frustrations of the victims' families that more had not been done to prevent such an attack on Australia's Jewish community.
“These frustrations were shared by many, many of us, including myself,” Herzog said.
“I’ve seen this wave surge all over the world, and I’ve seen it in many countries, including Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia — all English-speaking countries,” Herzog added.
After the Bondi shooting was declared a terrorist attack, the New South Wales state parliament rushed through legislation increasing police powers to arrest protesters.
Police can restrict protests for two weeks at a time for up to 90 days following a declared terrorist attack. Police last week continued the restrictions for another two weeks in an effort to contain civil discord in Sydney during Herzog’s visit.
On Monday evening, police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Sydney Town Hall. They sprayed the crowd with pepper spray and 27 people were arrested, including 10 charged with assaulting police, a police statement said.
Paramedics treated several protesters for the effects of pepper spray, but there was no report of serious injury, police said.
The protest had continued after the Palestine Action Group organizers lost a court challenge to a police order preventing them from marching from the Town Hall to the New South Wales Parliament.
In Melbourne, 5,000 protesters gathered outside downtown Flinders Street Railway Station, then marched several blocks to the State Library, blocking evening peak-hour traffic, police said.
A 20-year-old woman was arrested after allegedly burning two flags and causing fire damage to a tram stop, police said. She was released and was expected to face charges of willful damage, police said.
Earlier, Herzog said protests targeting him were mostly attempts to “undermine and delegitimize” Israel’s right to exist.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog, center right, visits Bondi Beach where the Dec. 2025 shooting took place, in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog, right, and his wife Michal Herzog, second right, visit Bondi Beach, where a mass shooting took place in Dec. 2025, in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog speaks during his visit to Bondi Beach where the Dec. 2025 shooting took place, in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog, center, and his wife Michal Herzog, left, offer prayers at Bondi Beach where the Dec. 2025 shooting took place, in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog, center left, and his wife Michal Herzog, center right, arrive at Bondi Beach for a memorial of the Dec. 2025 shooting victims, in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
