Illinois Ice Storm Leaves Roads Slushy, Sometimes Slippery and People without Power

While a number of residents in Illinois rushed to hardware stores to stock up on salt and shovels, others went to stock on groceries and candles in fear of no power and electricity after the ice storm hit late Monday night, early Tuesday.

Schools and other organizations canceled and postponed events planned for Tuesday, only to find out that the roads were not that slippery.
Thanks to the effort of State and local road crews, most of the roads were described as slushy but not ice covered.
Mary Zittle works as a manger at the local grocery store, and drives in from the county stated that she was surprised that the roads were clear.

"I came to work at 5 in the morning, expecting the roads to be a sheet of ice. It was just slushy, not really slippery." Mary went on to explain that she has been snowed in a number of times in the country which makes driving difficult when traveling the rural route in to town. "Rural roads are notorious for their dangerous driving conditions after a ice storm or snow storm. It is nice that for once the roads were clear. "

Bureau County Engineer John Gross said in anticipation of Tuesday's ice storm, the nine county highway drivers came in at 3:30 a.m.. Tuesday and didn't go home until about 13 hours later. With ice, crews will cover 100 percent of the roadways.

"We do not leave anything to chance, we want the roads clear and safe to travel. The police may say not to travel but we know that there are people out there who need to get to work or get home. "

Monday's cold temperatures caused havoc on drivers, but mainly in the parking lots. Bureau Valley High School had five accidents in their parking lot due to ice.
Three teachers and two students that were involved in the accidents were not hurt, and no serious damage was done to the vehicles.

Accidents were reported on the highways as the ice was coming down early Tuesday, Illinois State Police state that at least 50 accidents were reported to do poor road conditions. A spokesperson from the state police stated that people need to slow down in conditions like ice and snow.

"Most people believe they can drive the same speed as they would in dry conditions, and soon find out that they have no control in bad weather conditions. We suggest that in weather like we had on Tuesday that people stay home. But if they do need to go out, leave early and drive carefully."

Some people experienced some power outages due to ice on power lines or downed power lines. The ice that accumulated in some areas in Illinois had caused downed power lines in areas around Chicago and Rock Island. Mid American states that there is still 100 people with out power after Tuesday's storm but expects power to be restored no later than Thursday. They are asking that if you are with out power please go to a shelter for warmth and shelter until the power is turned back on.