PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria has been playing an important role in trying to make sure roads statewide are safe, and motorists are not stranded, during this winter storm.
“We are one of seven winter weather platoons that were activated in the State of Illinois to assist the Illinois State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency with response to the winter storm that we’re all suffering through right now,” said Maj. Joe Pingley, 182nd Airlift Wing based in Peoria.
“There are so many motorists in need of assistance — slipped off the roadway or just stranded — that Illinois State Police cannot respond to them all,” said Pingley.
There might be nothing you want more helping you in a winter snowstorm than someone in a military uniform, driving a Humvee.
“In some deployed situations, with these vehicles and my people, we’re in dust and mud and dirt and everything you can think of,” said Pingley. “They are well-trailed in getting through lots of sticky situations.”
Pingley says while it is possible to get a Humvee stuck, it’s going to take a lot more than a foot snow than that to do so.
Pingley says if you are traveling on interstates Thursday, be careful, because while some parts of the road may look clear, black ice can always get you.
