After severe storms and massive tornadoes tore through the South and Midwest, at least 22 people were killed and several others were hospitalized.
The severe storms and deadly tornadoes that destroyed entire villages in the Midwest and South on Friday and Saturday claimed at least 22 lives, and state officials in the area have declared emergencies to deal with the devastation.
Four people who died in structural collapses in Illinois were among the casualties. Kevin Sur, a spokesman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, reported that three of the fatalities occurred as a result of the collapse of a residential building in Crawford County, and the fourth victim perished as a result of the roof of the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere collapsing.
More than 50 preliminary tornado reports were made on Friday in at least seven states, including Arkansas, where storms claimed the lives of five individuals, four of whom were in the small town of Wynne and one in North Little Rock, according to local authorities.
According to State Police Sgt. Matt Ames, a storm that hit Indiana on Friday night and destroyed homes and a volunteer fire station close to the community of Sullivan, some 95 miles southwest of Indianapolis, claimed the lives of three people. Five people were hurt overnight in Madison County, Alabama, and one person died there, according to officials’ statements at a news conference on Saturday.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reports that one person passed away and four other people were hurt in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Allen Strickland, the emergency management director for McNairy County, Tennessee, which is situated in southern Tennessee between Nashville and Memphis, also verified there were seven fatalities in the county.
In Pulaski County, Arkansas, where a tornado tore through the Little Rock region on Friday, at least 50 individuals were sent to hospitals, according to Madeline Roberts, the county’s spokeswoman. According to a Baptist Memorial Health Care representative, five additional people were taken to the hospital after a tornado hit Covington, Tennessee, on Friday.
There were impassable roads. According to the county’s emergency operations center, the same storm system caused one death Saturday evening when a building fell in Sussex County, Delaware.
The storms follow a week of extreme weather that devastated the Southeast and left at least 26 dead. Large portions of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where estimated maximum winds of 170 mph raged, were flattened by a nighttime tornado, which puts individuals most susceptible to significant – and lethal – damages. That appeared out of the blue.
Over 2,600 structures in Little Rock have been affected,
According to him, the tornado’s course ultimately affected 2,100 people. According to the mayor, houses and commercial buildings were destroyed as cars sailed into the air.
By the grace of God, no one in Little Rock was murdered, Scott claimed, adding that the storm’s passage across the city coincided with the fortunate time when many people had not yet arrived home from work. Several folks were absent from their homes.
At least a dozen tornadoes were reported in Arkansas, including in the Little Rock region; if they were, it would have been a carnage. The tracking website poweroutage.us reported that more than 34,000 individuals in the state were still without power as of Saturday afternoon.
As a tornado passed through the region while he was working Friday afternoon, William Williams, a Kroger grocery employee in Little Rock, told CNN affiliate KATV that he is “thankful to be alive.” After seeking refuge inside the shop, he later ventured outside to observe the injured, among them a woman he claimed had sustained a serious leg injury.
Like five seconds passed before anything happened. Williams told KATV that it arrived “bang.” There was a lot of noise and other things. When I step outdoors, it is wild. Blood covered people’s faces in all directions. Simply said, I’m grateful to be alive.
The city of Wynne was “essentially divided in half by destruction from east to west” and is located about 100 miles east of Little Rock. Storms cause the theater roof to collapse.
The Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, northern Illinois, had more than 200 people inside for an event when its roof fell on Friday night, leaving one person dead and numerous others hurt, according to the municipal fire chief. Officials and the National Weather Service reported that the collapse happened as a series of storms packing 50 mph winds and tossing hail passed across the region. It wasn’t immediately obvious if the storm was the reason the theater’s roof collapsed.
According to Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle, 28 individuals were sent to hospitals as a result of the fall.
The storms on Friday “upended our towns and resulted in terrible injury and loss of life,” according to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who on Saturday declared a state of emergency for five counties, including Crawford, Sangamon, and Boone, where Belvidere is situated.
On Twitter, the governor declared, “We’ll stop at nothing to help anyone affected by yesterday’s devastating weather.”
In the meantime, in Indiana, the storm tore through Sullivan County, locking the wife of a local official inside until their son rescued her. Many homes in Sullivan, a population of roughly 4,000 people, were seriously damaged as a result of the storm, according to Mayor Clint Lamb.
Lamb wrote on Facebook overnight, “We implore all folks to keep safe and stay put.” So that they may attend to the affected communities, first responders need clean streets. Please offer up prayers for the public safety workers and the Sullivan families.
According to Andrew White, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Indianapolis Office, storms have severely damaged Howard, Johnson, and Sullivan counties. Many homes in Sullivan, a population of roughly 4,000 people, were seriously damaged as a result of the storm, according to Mayor Clint Lamb.
Emergency management director Janice Hart claims that the damage in Howard County was minimal and that no casualties were reported. Eric Holcomb, the governor of Indiana, issued a disaster emergency declaration for the counties of Sullivan and Johnson on Saturday. He also stated that Indiana officials were collaborating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to analyze damages.
