At least six people were killed and more than 30 injured after a dust storm described as similar to “whiteout” conditions caused dozens of vehicles to crash and shut down Interstate 55 Monday, according to Illinois State Police.
State police troopers responded to “numerous crashes” about 11 a.m. Monday on northbound and southbound I-55 within a 2-mile stretch from roughly milepost 76 to 78 in Montgomery County, south of Springfield, state police said. About 30 commercial motor vehicles and 40 to 60 passenger cars were involved in the crashes, according to preliminary information, including two tractor-trailers that caught fire.
“The only thing you could hear after we got hit was crash after crash after crash behind us,” Tom Thomas, 43, said. Thomas was traveling south to St. Louis at the time.
Evan Anderson, 25, who was returning home to St. Louis from Chicago, said a tractor-trailer turned before striking his vehicle, sparing him from even more damage. “You couldn’t even see,” Anderson said. “People tried to slow down and other people didn’t, and I just got plowed into. There was just so many cars and semitrucks with so much momentum behind them.”
Injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening among people ages 2 to 80 years old. The six fatalities all occurred in the northbound lanes. No additional details about the deaths were immediately available.
Kevin Schott, director of Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, said the scene was “difficult” and “something we really haven’t experienced locally.
“We were very fortunate to have the quality of responders that we have,” Schott said.
Schott said the biggest hurdles were trying to reach the victims because of how many vehicles were involved, some of which were on fire, and getting people evacuated and transported safely.
Schott said all the fires were out by 4:30 p.m., but fire crews would remain on scene in case of any other hot spots.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker described the scene as “horrific” in a statement Monday afternoon.
“Our first responders and emergency management teams are working diligently to clear the road, provide medical care to those in need, and collaborate with local officials to provide support to everyone affected by this tragic accident,” Pritzker said in the statement.
The crashes were caused by “excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility,” state police said.
Maj. Ryan Starrick, with the Illinois State Police, said the dust storm was a spring version of a “whiteout situation” typically seen in snowstorms. Anyone experiencing difficulties driving in a dust storm should treat the situation like adverse winter weather, he said.
“We would immediately request that those individuals if they encounter this, put their hazards lights on for sure, do the best that they can to navigate the scene,” he said.
Starrick said police have been in touch with the National Weather Service and were told the high winds were expected to subside Monday evening.
Winds at the time of the accident were gusting 35 to 45 mph, the National Weather Service said.
“It’s very flat, very few trees,” meteorologist Chuck Schaffer said. “It’s been very dry across this area really for the last three weeks. The farmers are out there tilling their fields and planting. The top layer of soil is quite loose.”
I-55 is expected to remain shut down in both directions from milepost 63 to milepost 80 through the evening Monday, according to state police.