Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has issued a disaster declaration after the Monday, February 15 snow storm covered the state in snow and power outages.
The proclamation was made in light of several inches of snow disrupting traffic and causing power outages in several areas across the state, frigid temperatures causing slick conditions and freezing infrastructure, and high wind speeds make the aforementioned problems even worse.
Roughly 7,000 Illinois households had their power knocked out by the storm. Snowfall reached up to a foot and a half in depth in some places, such as Chicago.
Officials are urging the public to stay home and off the roads as much as possible until work crews are able to remove the bulk of the snowfall.
The disaster declaration allows the state to pull additional emergency aid funds and request assistance from the federal government.
