Disaster proclamation issued by Gov. Pritzker

Posted on January 29, 2019
National Weather Service’s Chris Miller (left) joined Gov. JB Pritzker who issued a disaster proclamation Tuesday because of the worsening weather conditions in the forecast. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker lined up leaders of many state agencies — and some outside state government — at Illinois Emergency Management Agency headquarters for his disaster proclamation Tuesday morning.

Temperatures and wind chills are expected to be far below zero throughout the state Wednesday.

“You need to take this very seriously,” Pritzker said. “The emergency nature of this is real. People need to stay indoors if they can, stay off the roads if they can. These temperatures are deadly.”

IDOT has put more than 1,000 pieces of equipment into position. State troopers are working overtime.

“More than 700 people have died in the state of Illinois due to exposure to cold weather,” said Chris Miller, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Lincoln. “This is more than tornadoes, floods, lightning, heat, and severe storms combined.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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