Police urged drivers to stay home amid ‘blizzard-like conditions’ in Illinois
Winter weather hit Illinois on Thursday, creating “Blizzard-like conditions” and “reduced visibility,” warned police as multiple crashes involving more than 100 vehicles forced part of I-39 to be closed for 12 hours.
Illinois State Police confirmed on Twitter that they were responding to the situation, which led to the shutdown of the 30-mile stretch from Normal to Minonk as multi-vehicle crashes plagued the highway in the middle “dangerous travel conditions”.
Authorities urged drivers to leave work early to get home safely as the winter storm approached, later warning people to “avoid all travel” until conditions improve after six inches of snow fell in the area.
Footage and images shared on social media show devastating pile-ups on the road, trucks and cars colliding on the dangerous roads. It is not known if any of the drivers were injured in the collisions.
“We are working diligently to ensure motorists are safely escorted from the area to warming centres,” Illinois State Police said they were closing the southbound highway to clear debris and remove snow from the road to allow drivers to travel safely again.
Illinois State Police Chief Sergeant Matt McCormick said Thursday that “Many crashes and whiteout conditions make travel extremely dangerous, if not impossible.”
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