News We Love: Family finds refuge and kindness after blizzard traps drivers

KCCI EIGHT NEWS STARTS WITH BREAKING NEWS AS I-35 BETWEEN AMES AND MINNESOTA WAS CLOSED DUE TO THESE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. WE SAW SUNDAY PEOPLE ON THE INTERSTATE HAD TO ALTER THEIR TRAVEL PLANS. WE MET IN AMES FAMILY HEADING HOME SUNDAY WHO EXPERIENCED THE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS BUT ALSO FOUND IOWA NICE AND OVERDRIVE. AND LOOK AT THOSE FACES. YOU CAN TELL THEY WERE VERY RELIEVED. MARCUS MCINTOSH HAS THE STORY YOU’LL ONLY SEE ON KCCI. RAFAEL SORIANO AND THEIR KIDS ARE TRYING TO GET BACK HOME TO AMES ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. NOW THE TRIP TO NEW HAMPTON, WHICH USUALLY TAKES MAYBE TWO AND A HALF TO THREE HOURS, TOOK MORE THAN 24 HOURS. THEY CHECKED RADAR AND WEATHER AND THOUGHT THEY WERE AHEAD OF ANY PROBLEMATIC WEATHER PATTERN. ONCE THEY TURNED SOUTH ONTO I-35 IN MASON CITY, THE TROUBLE HIT HIGH GEAR. ONCE THE WIND AND THE FLURRIES CAME UP, IT WAS MORE THAN WE EXPECTED. IT HAPPENED REALLY QUICK, FASTER THAN WE EXPECTED. DUE TO THEIR EXPERIENCE ON FACEBOOK. THE ACCIDENTS ALL AROUND THEM, THE SEMIS HAD JACKKNIFED ON THE ROAD. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS, MILE MARKERS THAT DISAPPEARED. THEY WANTED TO GET OFF THE INTERSTATE. MOST OF THOSE EXITS DON’T HAVE ANY SERVICES EITHER. SO AS THE GAS GAUGE IS DROPPING, I WANT TO GET OFF THE ROAD. THEY HAD TO COORDINATE THEIR MOVES, COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER WITH THEIR CELL PHONES IN SPEAKER MODE. WE WERE DRIVING TWO CARS, SO SARAH WAS DRIVING THE VAN AND I WAS DRIVING MY CAR WITH MY SON IN THE BACK. THEY ENDED UP PULLING OVER TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD. ANOTHER DRIVER SAW THEM AND CAME OVER. HE HAD ALREADY TALKED TO THE STATE PATROL, AND SO HE CAME OVER TO TALK TO US AND SAID HE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE LATIMER COMMUNITY CENTER BEING OPEN. AND THE FIRST THING HE ASKED US IF WE NEEDED HELP. ONCE THEY ARRIVED AT LATIMER COMMUNITY CENTER, RELIEF SET IN IMMEDIATELY. IT WAS IT WAS JUST VERY PEACEFUL IN THERE. AND THE IOWA KNIGHTS TOOK OVER. PEOPLE COOKED FOOD, BROUGHT BLANKETS AND OTHER ESSENTIALS, TRYING TO MAKE THEM FEEL AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE. AS MANY AS 60 PEOPLE SOUGHT REFUGE IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER. THE HELP NEVER SLOWED. THEY JUST SHOWED UP. THERE’S NOT MUCH IN LATIMER. THERE’S NO GAS STATION. THERE’S NO. THAT LITTLE STORE WAS RIGHT NEXT DOOR, AND HER STAYING OPEN AND REALIZING, OH, THERE’S A BUNCH OF KIDS. THEY’RE JUST BAGS OF TOYS FOR THE KIDS, YOU KNOW, OUT OF HER OWN STACK, THE THREE KIDS MADE THEIR BEST OF THE SITUATION FROM GETTING OUT ONE OF THEIR GUINEA PIGS TO SHOW THE CHILDREN THERE, TO FINDING A PLACE TO SIMPLY RELAX. THEY JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT ADVENTURE. THE SERRANOS WERE ABLE TO LEAVE THE COMMUNITY CENTER ABOUT 1130 ON MONDAY AFTERNOON. THEY SAY THEY CAN’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ON THEIR WAY IN.

Updated: 10:42 PM EST Jan 3, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Updated: 10:42 PM EST Jan 3, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Rafael and Sarah Soriano thought Sunday’s drive home to Ames, Iowa, from New Hampton would be routine — about two-and-a-half hours, as usual.Before leaving, they checked the radar and weather and believed they were ahead of anything serious.But what should have been a quick trip stretched into an ordeal lasting more than 24 hours.Trouble escalated after they turned south onto Interstate 35 near Mason City, Iowa, when winds and flurries intensified into near-whiteout conditions.“Once the wind and the flurries came up, it was more than we expected,” Sarah Soriano said.Raphael Soriano said the change was abrupt.“It happened really quick — faster than we expected," he said. Sarah Soriano later described the scene in a Facebook post: crashes unfolding around them, semi-trailers jackknifing and mile markers disappearing in blowing snow.With visibility collapsing and traffic snarling, the family decided they needed to get off the interstate, but options were limited.“Most of those exits don’t have services either,” Sarah Soriano said. “So, as the gas gauge is dropping, I want to get off that road.”The couple was traveling in two vehicles and had to coordinate every move, staying in constant contact by phone on speaker.“We were driving two cars,” Rafael Soriano said. “Sarah was driving the van, and I was driving my car with my son in the back.”Eventually, they pulled onto the shoulder, unsure what to do next.Help arrived from a stranger who stopped after seeing them pulled over, the Sorianos said. The driver told them he had already contacted the Iowa State Patrol and that the Latimer Community Center was open as a shelter.“The first thing he asked is if we needed help,” Rafael Soriano said. “He didn’t have to do that.”Inside the community center, the family said their anxiety eased almost immediately. “Immediately, it was very peaceful in there,” Sarah Soriano said. “We didn’t know what to expect.”As many as 60 people took refuge there, and residents brought food, blankets and essentials, including supplies for children.“They just showed up,” Sarah Soriano said. “There is not much in Latimer … (but) that little store that was right next door just stayed open and just brought bags of kids (items) out of her own stock.” The Soriano children, she added, treated it “like a great adventure.”The family was able to leave around 11:30 a.m. Monday and got home a few hours later.

AMES, Iowa —

Rafael and Sarah Soriano thought Sunday’s drive home to Ames, Iowa, from New Hampton would be routine — about two-and-a-half hours, as usual.

Before leaving, they checked the radar and weather and believed they were ahead of anything serious.

But what should have been a quick trip stretched into an ordeal lasting more than 24 hours.

Trouble escalated after they turned south onto Interstate 35 near Mason City, Iowa, when winds and flurries intensified into near-whiteout conditions.

“Once the wind and the flurries came up, it was more than we expected,” Sarah Soriano said.

Raphael Soriano said the change was abrupt.

“It happened really quick — faster than we expected," he said.

Sarah Soriano later described the scene in a Facebook post: crashes unfolding around them, semi-trailers jackknifing and mile markers disappearing in blowing snow.

With visibility collapsing and traffic snarling, the family decided they needed to get off the interstate, but options were limited.

“Most of those exits don’t have services either,” Sarah Soriano said. “So, as the gas gauge is dropping, I want to get off that road.”

The couple was traveling in two vehicles and had to coordinate every move, staying in constant contact by phone on speaker.

“We were driving two cars,” Rafael Soriano said. “Sarah was driving the van, and I was driving my car with my son in the back.”

Eventually, they pulled onto the shoulder, unsure what to do next.

Help arrived from a stranger who stopped after seeing them pulled over, the Sorianos said. The driver told them he had already contacted the Iowa State Patrol and that the Latimer Community Center was open as a shelter.

“The first thing he asked is if we needed help,” Rafael Soriano said. “He didn’t have to do that.”

Inside the community center, the family said their anxiety eased almost immediately. “Immediately, it was very peaceful in there,” Sarah Soriano said. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

As many as 60 people took refuge there, and residents brought food, blankets and essentials, including supplies for children.

“They just showed up,” Sarah Soriano said. “There is not much in Latimer … (but) that little store that was right next door just stayed open and just brought bags of kids (items) out of her own stock.” The Soriano children, she added, treated it “like a great adventure.”

The family was able to leave around 11:30 a.m. Monday and got home a few hours later.

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News We Love: Family finds refuge and kindness after blizzard traps drivers

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