“I’ve seen accidents before, but I’ve never seen the magnitude of what was here,” said Jason Martin, who, at the time, was police chief in Divernon, 5 miles north of the crash site.
Authorities said they believe that the cloud of dirt likely came from soil swept off recently planted farms by wind gusts that topped 50 mph.
State police said it would take months to piece together the exact sequence of events leading up to the crash. For victim families, survivors, first responders and residents of the tiny, close-knit communities that dot the region, the mental and emotional wounds will undoubtedly take much longer to heal.Jim Dawson couldn’t see who was talking. The couple’s Cadillac XT5 was in the grassy median, its front and side air bags deployed.
A man, barely visible in the swirling dirt, appeared out the window and yelled for them to get out of the car. Suddenly, there was another explosion, louder than the others. Jim Dawson could feel a wave of heat hit him. To his right, he saw the cloud of dirt turn black with smoke. She swung her gaze to the right. A truck hurtled past her, pieces of it breaking away and vanishing. Just then, a car crashed into her trunk. The left side of her head bounced off the steering wheel.
“There was so much chaos,” Flanders said. “People were dazed, confused, bleeding, covered in dirt walking around.” It was a few minutes before 11 a.m. when Jason Martin heard Divernon firefighters being dispatched to a dust storm and pileup on the interstate. “It was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life,” remembered Martin, 52, a 16-year veteran police officer. “It was just horrendous.”
In Farmersville, population 689, a soccer field became the designated landing zone for medical helicopters. Over in Divernon, population 1,126, the five-room village hall was converted to headquarters for state police. Most of the injured survivors were treated at the scene. At least 37 were taken to nearby hospitals, one by helicopter.
“It’s really hard,” said Hill, 64. “You do your best to comfort them and offer assistance in any way you can.”Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, WisconsinJoseph Bates, 73, and Donna Bates, 71, of Crystal LakeAn eighth victim, Ruth Rau, 81, of Panama, Illinois, died about two weeks later in a Springfield hospital from injuries suffered in the crash.
Many of the emergency agencies that responded are staffed by volunteers who live in the small towns along the interstate, men and women who walked toward the dust storm knowing they could find a familiar face among the injured and dead.National Weather Service forecasters in the area said they talked to authorities about the agency’s ability to issue dust storm warnings in the future.
Jim and Pam Dawson were eventually taken by ambulance to a Springfield hospital. The next day, surgeons used rods and screws to stabilize her spine. She went home in a back brace and will need a second surgery to repair the torn ligaments in her thumb — the injuries left her unable to attend her brother-in-law’s funeral.
She eventually got a new car through insurance and started the drive home, 570 nerve-wracking miles, each one requiring that she shield her mind from thoughts of what could have been. In one of those cars sat Megan Metters. The 37-year-old St. Louis resident was on her way home that day when she veered to avoid a collision. Her car spun and then lurched as it was hit by one car, then a second and a third. Her glasses flew from her face.
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