Rauner storm response
Monday, Feb 2, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Sunday afternoon press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner convened a conference call this afternoon with leaders of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Commerce Commission and Central Management Services for an update regarding the ongoing winter storm and the state’s readiness to assist citizens.
Prior to the call, Governor Rauner activated the State Incident Response Center in Springfield to ensure state personnel and equipment are ready to be quickly deployed if needed to help local emergency responders deal with the blizzard conditions in the Chicago area.
Relevant facts from today’s storm include:
· There have been no requests from local first responders for additional state assistance – state agencies are prepared in case a need arises
· There have been no serious injuries or fatalities reported due to today’s weather
· All IDOT snow plows are in use where needed
· There are further concerns following the end of the storm when temperatures drop which may result in freezing roads. Motorists are advised to remain off the roads, but if travel is necessary to use extreme caution
· There are approximately 16,000 ComEd customers without power
· There are approximately 1,850 MidAmerican Energy customers without power
· There are approximately 800 Ameren Illinois customers without power
· All companies have assured the state they are working as quickly as possible to restore power, and all customers should have power restored by tomorrow
· I-57 around Champaign is still closed due to an overturned truck – crews are working quickly as possible to open the highway – traffic is being diverted
· While the tanker truck was not carrying any hazardous material, approximately 68 homes were evacuated out of an abundance of caution
· There have been 1,100 flights cancelled at O’Hare and 200 at Midway
· State IT services are in good shape and functioning
The governor is confident the state is poised and ready for action should conditions continue to deteriorate and cause further, more serious problems. He continues to urge motorists to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
How’s it going by you?
- Confused - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:43 am:
Travelled all over the North Shore early this am. Main streets were completely passable. Decreased access to uncovered parking due to piles of plowed snow. Business as usual otherwise.
- OneMan - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:45 am:
Not, bad the BNSF had to slow up a couple of times so they were a bit late…
- Wordslinger - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:45 am:
Schools closed in Oak Park.
Good 18 inches. About a four foot drift on half my garage roof that I’ll have to shovel if the wind doesn’t take care of it before it warms up and starts to melt and get heavy.
- very old soil - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:46 am:
Opened the garage door and saw a three-foot high drift. Decided to wait until it warms up tomorrow to plow.
- Archiesmom - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:48 am:
16.5 inches in my front yard. Got all services except satellite TV. I bet DirecTV was having a fun day yesterday. Good snow removal, too. Trains delayed a bit, nothing bad. Successful storm response in the south burbs.
- Stuff Happens - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 9:50 am:
Canceled a meeting in Chicago (from Champaign). The state road condition map didn’t look too good:
http://wrc.gettingaroundillinois.com/pages/wrc.htm
- train111 - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:02 am:
All roads plowed. Got to work this am without a hitch. The four wheel drive did come in handy getting out of the driveway however. Not looking forward to getting back home where the Mrs is alone with 3 kids as there is no school today.
- Just the Facts - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:04 am:
About 19 or 20 inches in Downers Grove. Shoveled out the driveway after shoveling it twice yesterday. Decided not to deal with the walk to the station or Metra so am working at home.
- zatoichi - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:04 am:
Pretty lucky in Central Ill. The 5-8 inches projection was about 3 inches. Everything else in place. Just cold.
- employeeofstate - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:05 am:
This is why the State of Illinois will NEVER be out of the red and productive. Every where north of Peoria, IL received 12-18 inches of snow. Downstate all municipal offices are closed, but because the Governor has all of IDOT and State Police at his disposal and is able to get to work albeit with someone else driving all the state offices are open. Employee moral is high let me tell ya. If this Governor had half a brain he’d leave the decision up to the regional management like most civilian businesses. Instead one of his funkiest in Springfield makes the decison. What a joke to say don’t travel unless you have to and then keep all the offices open.
- in the know - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:05 am:
getting around illinois down for a few hours uesterday, but otherwise a-ok
- Responsa - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:10 am:
Unable to leave the house by vehicle due to drifting by garage doors. No way to get out the front door by foot, either. So it’s a “snow day”. Waiting for private plow to come for the driveway and garage pad. I think about 18 inches fell where I am in Lake County but some places around the property the snow is only a few inches deep and other places the drifting is 3-4 feet. The wind last night was crazy fierce.
- GA Watcher - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:10 am:
Metra BNSF was 45 minutes late this morning. They made an announcement as we were pulling into Union Station that passengers should expect 20-50 delays all day.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:12 am:
Excellent storm! Played with son in the snow for a few hours Sunday morning. Snow was wet and good for building a snow fort. Then the temp dropped and the wind picked up…blew the driveway clean and the roads closed. Everything in north central illinois shut down. Planning to take out the sled this afternoon! Enjoy all!
- Night Rider - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:16 am:
We were unfortunately driving back from the Wisconsin Dells yesterday (Sunday) to the Chicago suburbs in the middle of the day when the storm was worsening. The roads in Wisconsin were alright, but I-90 was absolutely terrible. We didn’t see a single plow and we must’ve seen 20-30 cars off the road. I was not impressed with Illinois’ response.
- Under Further Review - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:23 am:
Miserable. Not all major roads are plowed and side streets are impassable. Many cars are stuck. Missed the Super Bowl Party due to weather.
Schools closed for the day.
Shoveled for hours with no appreciable results.
Re-elect Mayor Rahm says everything is normal.
- How Ironic - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:24 am:
75F yesterday, played tennis in shorts. Yes, this has been a brutal weekend. Clearly, I’m not in Illinois.
- senior citizen of goverment - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:25 am:
Night Rider you are so correct I-90 into 88 was not good at all.
- A guy - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:26 am:
It sucks. Thank’s for asking! lol
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:26 am:
Oswego “SD308″ closed the schools and it’s not that there is too much snow to be cleared, the problem is where do you put the piles of snow.
The sun is helping with “attitude” but yikes…
- 32nd Ward Roscoe Village - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:27 am:
Streets are pretty clear because, of course, there is a mayoral election in a few weeks. Streets and San’s Twitter feed steadily reported yesterday about all the 350-500 trucks and plows out clearing the streets.
Got my AWD out of the garage and down unplowed alley to go to Super Bowl party last night. In my short (2 mile) drive, a few cars stranded and one badly wrecked, blocking major streets, but streets were generally fine for me.
This morning, I decided not to drive as alley looked impassable. CTA trains packed and moving slowly; Streets and San said they are trying to do Monday garbage pickup; hope that truck going down my alley will clear out some of the snow so I can drive tomorrow.
- Stones - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:28 am:
About 16″ of heavy wet snow in the SW ‘burbs. Many mailboxes didn’t survive but other than that road crews did reasonably well.
- walker - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:30 am:
In the top five of total snowfall for one storm in Chicagoland history.
Given that, everything IS normal. Will get shoveled out by this afternoon.
- JoanP - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:30 am:
South side of Chicago:
Main streets are pretty much okay, except where the idiots who can’t measure 2″ are parked.
Side streets and intersections are bad, though.
And, of course, the city doesn’t plow alleys. I’m not saying that should be a priority, but LOTS of Chicagoans use alleys for parking and garage access, so it ought to be done at some point.
We have guys who shovel out around our cars as well as clear the sidewalks in front of and behind the building, and the stairs. They came out early yesterday morning, did an excellent job, and a couple of hours later it was as though they’d never been. They were back this morning, though, and I THINK I’ll be able to get out later today.
- 32nd Ward Roscoe Village - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:35 am:
Joan P., alleys are definitely a problem. When they say they still are going to try to do Monday garbage pick up, I hope they put a plow on the front of the garbage truck!
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:36 am:
We got hammered in Chicago’s Northwest Side. The yard looks unreal. Deeper snow than I’ve ever seen or remember in the yard, even more than 2011. The front is not as bad. Yards are apparently like snow traps, catching a lot of blowing and drifting snow.
- FormerParatrooper - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:44 am:
Stuck in Florida. Flight cancelled to go to Central Illinois via Chicago. Will take the blessing and enjoy the warmth.
- ChiTown Seven - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:45 am:
There’s one other problem with how Arduin works. She’s not just an ignorant crazy persons, trying to hide her lack of thought and information with buzzwords and cliches. She’s also terrible at budget math, analysis, and projections. Here’s an example of the disastrous results of some of her work in Flordida:
http://extra.heraldtribune.com/2014/01/24/arduin-story/
- Sunshine - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:45 am:
Stayed up all night worrying about the snow. The news media had me terrified as they were predicting snow in the middle of winter.
I could verily shovel the 1″ we got I was so distraught! I just can’t handle it! I’m still shaken thanks to the storm reporting here in Springpatch. What will the Rauner’s do? How will they handle this “it’s going to snow in the winter” pressure?
- Deep South - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:58 am:
Kinda chilly this morning in the Deep South, a bit windy, too. My wife says she some daffodils poking up from the ground the other day.
- scott aster - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 11:01 am:
Got a wonderful home for sale in AZ. 75 today and very sunny. see ya all in may
- jerry 101 - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 11:37 am:
We had about 6 or 8 inches on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
High is 59 degrees today. Buh-bye snow.
Life in Denver is great.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 11:43 am:
Even though we got slammed, I am so grateful a Chicago sports team is not the Seattle Seahawks.
- Shemp - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 11:48 am:
— Downstate all municipal offices are closed, but because the Governor has all of IDOT and State Police at his disposal and is able to get to work albeit with someone else driving all the state offices are open. —-
Um, not around here. We are in the 15″ zone and all the city offices in this area are open….
- Du page Dan - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 11:59 am:
Bad accident on Tri State because of ice. No reason for that to happen. IDOT should have had that iced big time. Heads should roll over this. Over 60 cars and trucks involved.
- DuPage Dave - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:14 pm:
Wh had about 13 inches in north central DuPage. Village streets are in good shape this morning, but the county roads are less so. After all the shoveling is done, there’s time to look up and realize it’s a beautiful day.
- Stuff Happens - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:16 pm:
Looking at the pileup on I-294, I’m glad I stayed in Champaign today.
http://hort.li/1DZg
- Lemont Bob - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:43 pm:
It’s not IDOT that plows and salts 294, it’s the toll authority. And yes heads should roll those roads should have been salted over and over.
- Pyrman - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:48 pm:
I wonder if Rauner thinks the IDOT plow drivers were over paid yesterday?
- Just the Facts - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:55 pm:
Went for a run at lunch - the neighborhood streets in Downers Grove, Westmont and Clarendon Hills on my route have all been plowed.
- Keyser Soze - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:57 pm:
Two and a half inches of slush in Springfield. It re-froze overnight and is now crunchy…..like stepping on bubble-wrap……it’s almost fun.
- Wordslinger - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
DD, that’s right, accidents should never happen during one of the biggest single snows recorded in the area.
You must be one of those John Kass small government conservatives who were outraged a couple years back when cars got stuck on LSD in a monster storm when a CTA bus blocked an exit.
- The KQ - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 1:14 pm:
Our office is in Rolling Meadows where there was about 20″ of snow. Came in on 90 with no problems. The rule of thumb at our office is that we are all adults - if you can’t make it into the office because of the weather then you take a personal day or work from home. In extreme situations they will shut down and that’s happened only twice. About 1/2 of the office is here today, most are out because schools were cancelled and they have kids at home. The parking lot is clear, the streets aren’t bad - all in all I think the snow stopped at the right time and allowed the plows to get the main roads cleard.
- a drop in - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 1:25 pm:
“I wonder if Rauner thinks the IDOT plow drivers were over paid yesterday?”
Yes, he does. But he thinks the head of IDOT deserves a raise.
- Lemont Bob - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 1:48 pm:
Wordslinger- you need to get a grip. I believe what DD meant was that by 9:30 am the day after a major artery such as 294 should have been salted better. And by the way it wasn’t during the storm it was a good 12-15 hours after it stopped.
- lil enchilada - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 2:00 pm:
Northwest Illinois got about 14 inches of snow. Today it’s 13 degrees. At least the sun is out. Snow removal varies everywhere. Not just by City, but by street as well. Very late to work because no one is plowed my alley.
- IB Strapped - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 2:39 pm:
Stuck on S Padre Is, TX. Wind got up overnight and sunshine is filtered, wind chill too low to walk the beach so sitting on the balcony listening to the surf roar. Pls don’t tell Gov Rauner any of this…or Terminatrix Arduin either.
- Precinct Captain - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 3:57 pm:
The 294 accident wasn’t because of ice. There was a state trooper’s car that got hit while on the scene of another accident. That’s everything to do with drivers not paying attention and not giving proper stopping distance.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-crash-closes-lanes-along-3mile-stretch-of-interstate-294-20150202-story.html
- Lemont Bob - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 3:59 pm:
The first accident was indeed caused by ice . That accident then caused a chain reaction , therefore the accident was caused by ice.
- Sunshine - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 4:06 pm:
The drivers involved were born in Texas, so…. it’s Texas’s fault. In fact, they know George Bush. That’s it, it’s Bushes fault!!
- Under Further Review - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 4:30 pm:
“You must be one of those John Kass small government conservatives who were outraged a couple years back when cars got stuck on LSD in a monster storm. . .”
To be fair, almost every traffic bulletin broadcast that day asked motorists to stay away from Lake Shore Drive.
- Under Further Review - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 4:36 pm:
It has been a hard day, but the car is finally out of the snow and back in service. I am grateful because many people were neighborly and helpful. I tried to reciprocate by lending a hand with the shovel or joining those pushing.
Blizzards happen. We all need to be patient. I get it, but Mayor Emanuel seemed to being channeling the spirit of Mayor Bilandic when he kept reassuring people that the snow plows are clearly side streets. Haven’t not seen any evidence of that all day and I took a long drive into the city to visiting a supply house. I spent hours outside yesterday and saw only a single snow plow operated by the city. Right now, most, but not all of the major arterial streets are sloppy, but passable. The residential side streets are a mess.
- Under Further Review - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 4:38 pm:
Oops! “reassuring people that the snow plows are clearing the side streets…”
- Carhartt Designer - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 5:31 pm:
Here on the Nort’ west side, we got 20 inches . . . and nary a plow in sight. Then our alderman cruises down our street in her SUV and WAVES. Classy.
- Under Further Review - Monday, Feb 2, 15 @ 10:11 pm:
@Carhartt Designer:
I spoke to a friend who lives closer to downtown (Gold Coast/River North). That’s where the salt trucks and snow plows were. I can see the business district being provided service promptly, but the outlying neighborhoods deserve some help too. It will probably come after you have shoveled the street clean and the city snow plows push all of the snow and ice back into the parked cars.