They were heading down a swath of highway raised out of the wetlands, past a schizophrenic landscape of saw-grass prairies and strip malls, where the road signs warned of panthers and the billboards advertised alligator zoos and other South Florida attractions.
The main road into Sirajganj runs along a raised embankment but the narrow strips of grass on either side are now home to dozens of people escaping the waters below.
It was traveling eastbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when it veered off the road near Carlise, struck a guard rail, traveled 70 yards through grass and then struck a tree, said Trooper Rob Hicks, a spokesman for state police.