Three deaths were confirmed in Sullivan County, Ind., Sgt. Matt Ames with the Indiana State Police said early Saturday, adding that homes were destroyed and several power lines were down. Search and rescue teams are waiting for the day to resume operations in the area, he said.
A “large and destructive tornado” struck Little Rock and other parts of Arkansas on Friday afternoon, destroying homes, state officials said. There was one confirmed death in North Little Rock, Pulaski County spokeswoman Madeline Roberts said, adding that more than 50 people were hospitalized and there was “major damage” in the county.
There were also two deaths in Wynne, Ark., where pictures showed that neighborhoods and the town’s high school sustained significant damage, according to coroner Miles J. Kimble and a spokesman for the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.
The fourth death in the state of Arkansas was confirmed by LaTresha Woodruff, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management on Saturday.
In Belvidere, Ill., one person was killed and at least 28 were injured when the roof of the Apollo Theater collapsed during a storm on Friday. A local resident described the scene as a “catastrophe” to The Washington Post.
Shawn Schadle, fire chief of the city, said in a news briefing that about 260 people were in the venue when the incident happened. Illinois Govt. JB Pritzker (D) SAYS As of late Friday officials are “closely monitoring” the disaster and are urging residents to take shelter and monitor guidance from all local authorities.
More than 200,000 customers were without power early Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us, with Indiana and Minnesota reporting the most outages.
More inclement weather is forecast for Saturday, as “scattered severe-to-severe thunderstorms are expected across parts of the Ohio Valley and Northeast and over the Southeastern US. Wind, hail, and a few tornadoes are possible,” said the Storm Prediction Center.
This cluster follows last week’s deadly tornadoes that ripped through Mississippi and northern Alabama, killing at least 25 people.
On Friday, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden went to Rolling Fork, Miss., where Biden said he would allow more access to federal resources for recovery efforts, including cash grants for people who lost their homes.
“People in Rolling Fork said the tornado only lasted about 15 seconds, but Jill and I saw firsthand that the impact was devastating,” Biden SAYS in a tweet Saturday. “We will stand with you to rebuild as much as necessary.”
Scott Dance, Allyson Chiu, Matthew Cappucci and Amber Ferguson contributed to this report
