The arctic like weather is taking its toll on travel in the region.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Jonathon Monken says the worst possible combination of circumstances caused six semis and about 375 vehicles to get stuck along a snowy stretch of Interstate-57 in southern Illinois. Monken says a few semis jackknifed near the intersections of interstates 57 and 70 in Effingham Sunday night, setting off a nasty chain reaction. Snow drifts as high as 8 feet piled up against the semis, preventing cars from getting through. Those cars then became covered by snow drifts. Monken says a special 10-ton National Guard vehicle called a ``wrecker'' had to be used to move the semis. He says it took more than 100 emergency personnel about six hours to clear the area. No one was injured.
Travel along I-57 throughout the region remains difficult. I-DOT and area law enforcement officials urge motorists not to get out unless travel is absolutely necessary.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has declared a state of emergency because of the extreme cold. That allowed him to deploy the National Guard to help hundreds of stranded motorists. Quinn says he’s not yet worried about the costs associated with all the manpower being used to deal with the cold weather: “You don’t scrimp when it comes to public safety. We have to deploy every asset we have. At the end, we’ll calculate it.”
Quinn says there have been a few natural disasters to hit the state in the past year. There were floods last spring and tornadoes in the fall.