One of the Worst Storms in Illinois Happened Over 55 Years Ago
January 26 marks the anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in Illinois history.
56 years and we are still talking about one of the worst storms in Illinois, the Blizzard of 1967. Most of the snow landed in Chicago and shut down the city for days. Buses, cars, and trains all stuck under 23 inches of snow that fell in one day. Now we can all handle a snowstorm, but there was nothing like this with mounds of snow falling and temps dropping stranding people in their homes for days.
The storm started at 5 am on Thursday and ended FINALLY over 24 hours later at 10 am on Friday. According to Only in Your State, by noon eight inches of snow had already fallen in the city.
The blizzard closed both Midway Airport and O'Hare Airport. Ten-foot drifts covered the runways at Midway. Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley ordered city workers to clear city streets around the clock and asked citizens for help.On Friday, the city was virtually shut down and area schools were closed.
Sadly, sixty people lost their lives due to the storm, and cost an estimated $150 million in business loss and damages. Some stranded people had to be rescued by helicopters. I am sure it was a science that a person who lived through it will remember for as long as they lived. And I am sure too that many of the city workers learned from that storm how to handle such a massive amount of snow and have several plans in place for snow removal.
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