6 dead, dozens hospitalized after blinding dust storm in Illinois caused multiple highway pileups

[mystery-ak]

6 dead, dozens hospitalized after blinding dust storm in Illinois caused multiple highway pileups
More than 30 other people were taken to hospitals with injuries following collisions involving as many as 90 vehicles near Farmersville, state police said.

May 1, 2023, 4:22 PM CDT / Updated May 1, 2023, 4:52 PM CDT
By Dennis Romero



Six people were confirmed dead in a series of highway collisions Monday in rural Illinois that were blamed on a blinding dust storm, authorities said.

More than 30 people, ages 2 to 80, were hospitalized with injuries from minor to life-threatening, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said at an early evening news conference.

The collisions, which involved as many as 90 vehicles on Interstate 55 north of Farmersville just before 11 a.m., included separate pileups on the northbound and southbound sides, state police said.

"The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility," Starrick said.

Involved in the collisions were two big rigs that had been on fire, roughly 28 other commercial vehicles and as many as 60 passenger vehicles, Starrick said.

more
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blinding-dust-storm-illinois-leads-multiple-fatalities-dozens-hospital-rcna82327

[mystery-ak]

Farmersville is just south of me and the wind has been terrible all day gusting over 50mph....

[libertybele]

Farmersville is just south of me and the wind has been terrible all day gusting over 50mph....

Yikes!!!

[Gefn]

Farmersville is just south of me and the wind has been terrible all day gusting over 50mph....

@mystery-ak

Take care, it sounds awful

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/amugaverotv/status/1653129534185537538

https://twitter.com/LoveWorld_Peopl/status/1653144164266127361

[Lando Lincoln]

That’s awful. Some of the pictures look like a war zone.

[mystery-ak]

The highways here are on flat land...with farmland on both sides of the highway....The farmers have been out in the fields for the past two weeks and with the high winds the top-soil has been blown away...

[mystery-ak]

LoveWorld
@LoveWorld_Peopl
·
2h
#INFO
The cause of the crash was excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway.
20 tractor-trailers and at least 60 passenger vehicles were involved in the pileup, including two tractor-trailers that caught fire as result of the crash.

[mountaineer]

https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1653172689065086976

[mystery-ak]

That’s awful. Some of the pictures look like a war zone.

We went to Springfield last week with high winds and the farmers in the fields...ran into a few stretches where you can't see...and NO ONE slows down so this doesn't surprise me.

[Lando Lincoln]

We went to Springfield last week with high winds and the farmers in the fields...ran into a few stretches where you can't see...and NO ONE slows down so this doesn't surprise me.

I have a cousin living in rural Mechanicsburg just east of Springfield. I hope she is okay.

[mystery-ak]

[goatprairie]

The wife and I vacation is the SW during January and February. On I-10 motorists are warned about sand/dust storms and what to do in the eventuality.  Pull off the road for starters. Fortunately, we've never had one hit us while we were driving.
 Staying in Las Cruces for February one day we were hit with a huge dust storm. Luckily, we were inside our dwelling at the time. After the worst was over I went out to get some food, and it was still difficult to see the surrounding mountains because of the dirt in the air. I can't imagine trying to drive through one of those things.