A woman who was trapped in her vehicle on I-55 while surrounded by live power lines during Monday evening’s storms is recalling the harrowing experience.
Jennifer Sternal told NBC Chicago she was trapped in her vehicle for nearly six hours after tornado-warned storms swept through Will County.
As Sternal was driving home around 9 p.m. Monday, it became nearly impossible to see what was ahead of her on I-55 when she encountered a downed power line that was live.
Sternal said she switched lanes to move behind a semi-truck and had incidentally ran over power lines that were already in the roadway.
At this time, the semi-truck ahead of Sternal began to jackknife.
Sternal managed to stop her SUV before striking the semi-truck, though she was then left surrounded by live power lines in her vehicle.
“I was very concerned that somebody was going to get electrocuted by those because it was on the ground, all next to my car, behind it, in front of it,” Sternal said. “They could very easily have touched it.”
First responders arrived within minutes, but it wouldn’t be until 3 a.m. Tuesday before Jennifer was allowed out of her car. Video captured by NBC Chicago’s Sky 5 shows her white SUV near a jackknifed ALDI truck. The driver of that truck made sure the stranded drivers didn’t go hungry.
“They started throwing bread to the poor guys on the other side of the street so they would have something while they were waiting,” she said.
Sternal said she’s feeling lucky to have survived the storm.
“Lucky enough I went out and bought a lotto ticket. I feel very, very blessed and lucky that nothing happened to me or even anyone else out there,” Sternal said.
Sternal was eventually picked up and returned home safely, while her vehicle remained on I-55, which remains closed in Channahon in both directions.