DIVERNON, Ill. — Survivors of Monday's dust-storm-related, 72-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 55 in Illinois returned to pick up their cars Wednesday.
Two vacant lots in Divernon were filled with tractor-trailers, SUVs, trucks and cars. Some vehicles were untouched, but troopers with the Illinois State Police still had them towed instead of releasing them the day of the crash.
Other tractor-trailers, cars, trucks and SUVs were inoperable, either crushed, burned out or a mix of both. Even days after the pile-up and resulting fires, the vehicles left behind in the lot gave off a smell of burnt rubber and charred metal.
Drivers came to Divernon to collect their vehicles or speak with troopers, meeting at the mobile command post. Jane Flanders, a Minneapolis resident, shared her story of survival.
"When I tried to get out of my car, I couldn't and I finally opened the door. I heard guys next to me shouting, 'Get out of here! get out of here! She's going to blow!' And the semi probably 20 yards from me exploded," she said.
What survivors of Monday's dust storm describe is dystopian: vehicles on fire, everything shrouded in dust.
Rita Johnson, a Joliet resident, took a video from the driver's seat looking out the back window of the car.
"Everywhere I looked was just crashed cars and trucks," Johnson said.
Johnson and her car came out unscathed. She is still recovering from the shock of the ordeal.
"I didn't wash my coat, but you're just covered dust, it was all over your face," she said. "It was awful."
The recovery lots in Divernon became an unexpected reunion spot. When Johnson and Flanders saw each other, they embraced, bonded by their traumatic experience.
Whether with words or actions, people caught up in the collision stepped up to help each other.
"I grabbed a bunch waters from my car in a bag and started helping people," Flanders said. "The woman who was in the car behind me was unconscious, she had just come to and I got a trucker to help me and got her to safety."
Flanders' car is totaled and Johnson's is drivable. As of Wednesday evening, many vehicles remained in the recovery lots. Troopers do not know how long it will take for them all to be removed.