'Flash Spudding': Potato Truck Overturns On North Carolina Highway

ALERT: Mash destruction on I-77 SB at West Blvd. CLOSED. Thousands of potatoes on roadway #cltraffic #clt pic.twitter.com/mPaoQvS98l — Traffic Team 9 (@TrafficTeam9) May 6, 2016

Commuters faced scenes of "mash destruction" this morning on Interstate 77 in Charlotte, N.C.

That's right — I-77 South was littered with spuds after a tractor-trailer overturned at around 2 a.m. ET Friday, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

We're talking about 50,000 pounds of potatoes, according to local news reports. The road was closed for hours, creating major traffic backups as authorities attempted to clear the tubers using tractors and snowplows.

The truck's driver said he fell asleep "and hit a barrier and overturned," state troopers told The Associated Press. The wire service adds that "he was taken to a hospital for injuries that did not appear to be serious."

Charlotte's WSOC-TV says the potato spill stretched for hundreds of yards. The first photos of the scene show the spuds glowing in the streetlights and covering the entire road.

Unfortunately, most of these taters probably aren't good to eat at this point because of a fuel spill, according to reporters at the scene.

UPDATE: Some potatoes are soaked in diesel fuel. Crews will be careful with how it's disposed. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/bmVm3Fd2Jv — Gina Esposito (@GinaWSOC9) May 6, 2016

However, The Charlotte Observer reports that "a few hundred pounds of potatoes had fallen into grass near an exit ramp, were not contaminated and would be donated to a food gleaning group."

We're still working on the potato spill. Meanwhile, you folks are cracking us up with the potato puns ? We'll update later on the taters — NCDOT I-77 (@NCDOT_I77) May 6, 2016

Social media lit up with the news. Check out some of the reaction:

The reason I'm almost an hour late to work is bc 50,000 pounds of potatoes are scattered on 77. I don't know whether to laugh or cry — Mallory Boyd (@malllycat) May 6, 2016

Didn't call for any "flash spudding" on the roads today. H/T one of our producers for that. Glad the driver is ok. https://t.co/JUDLf13k1l — Keith Monday (@kmondayWSOC9) May 6, 2016

Good luck to everyone dodging potatoes on 77. I heard there was *mash* destruction #clttraffic #PotatoProblem pic.twitter.com/WDR1KzNtMK — Ashley A.D. Davis (@ashleyaddavis) May 6, 2016

"Y'all 50,000 pounds of potatoes just spilled on I-77!" "Let's hope a truck of butter, sour cream, & bacon spills next to them." #OfficeTalk — SouthernFriedCotton (@SoFriCo) May 6, 2016

The Two-Way has a history of covering unusual roadway spills. Here are a few you might recall: