At least 2 killed, dozens injured as tornado hits Arkansas as dangerous storms spread across 15 states – CBS News

A tornado plowed through the Arkansas capital and surrounding areas Friday afternoon, reducing roofs to shingles, hurling debris from vehicles onto roads as people ran for shelter, part of a monster storm system that tore through the Midwest. The weather is also responsible rush to the roof of theater in Illinois, leaving at least one person dead and dozens more injured.

At least two people were killed in the northern Arkansas city of Arkansas Gov. Wynne. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Friday evening’s news briefing.

Little Rock Major Frank Scott, Jr. announced On Twitter Friday evening, at least 24 people had been hospitalized with weather-related injuries. He added the police “so that no one knows about the disasters at this time.”

I described the property damage as “extensive”.

The roof of a theater in Belvidere, Illinois, collapsed during a windy Friday night concert. video from CBS Chicago it shows the wreckage lying in the street outside the Apollo Theater, with firefighters and ambulances on the scene. Cell phone video of the damage was captured from inside the structure.

The Belvidere Department reported that one person died and 28 were injured in the collapse of the building. Five of those injuries were considered serious and 18 moderate, the fire department said.

There were 266 people in the building at the time of the collapse, the department said.

As of late Friday night, no one was expected, the fire department said.

The bands Morbid Angel, Recall and Bone Relics held concerts at the venue on Friday night, according to the Apollo venue. It is unclear which bands were playing when the crash occurred. Morbid Angel later posted on their Facebook page that the show was canceled “due to the hurricane hitting the venue.”

“My administration is closely monitoring the roof of the Belvidere Theater on Apollo night,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tweeted.

Belvidere is located about 70 miles from downtown Chicago.

Several wind-driven wildfires have been confirmed in Iowa and Oklahoma as a storm system threatens to affect 80 million people across the country.

Meanwhile, the smaller Sax tornado first tore through neighborhoods on the west side of the city and tore down a small shopping center that included Kruger’s grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding towns, where widespread damage to homes, businesses and vehicles was reported.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock was working on the mass casualty and expected at least 15 to 20 patients from the tornado, spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said. Several people have already been transported to a medical center, but the exact number was not immediately available.

Mark Hulsey, special projects manager for Pulaski County, which includes Little Rock, said at least one person was in critical condition. Incorporated areas of the county saw structural damage from the tornado, but crews saw no buildings that were “flattened or completely destroyed.”

Travelers and airport employees at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock are staying in the restrooms. And the copper plate shows the various roofs torn from the settlements in Little Rock and near Benton.

More than 111,000 customers in Illinois were without power Friday evening, along with over 74,000 customers in Arkansas, according to a local utility survey. poweroutage.us.

Sanders mobilized 100 members of the Arkansas National Guard to help local authorities respond to the damage across the state. The officer at a briefing with officials of the Rock Friday night said that the number of deaths could rise.

“We’re hoping not, but I think given the nature and volatility of things, we’re prepared to be able to,” he said.

City Councilwoman Lisa Powell Carter told the AP the town of Wynne is without power and the roads are full of debris.

“I’m afraid to go home, but we can’t go home,” he said. “Wynne is so demolished. … There’s a house destroyed, trees in the streets.”

City officials have implemented a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m

The sheriff’s office in Pulaski County, which includes the Little Rock metropolitan area, tweeted on Friday that “tornadoes have affected many areas of Pulaski County.”

“Don’t stop scanning the waste,” he wrote. “If you’re going home, you might as well take an alternate route.”

Tornadoes moved through parts of eastern Iowa with sporadic building damage. Pictures showed at least one warehouse flattened and several buildings with their roofs and clinging torn off.

In nearby Oklahoma, wind gusts of up to 60 mph fueled the fast-moving grass fire. People in northern Oklahoma were urged to evacuate their homes far north of the city, and riders blocked portions of Interstate 35.

In Illinois, Ben Wagner, chief radar operator for the Woodford County Emergency Management Agency, said hail broke windows of cars and buildings in the Roanoke area, northeast of Peoria. More than 109,000 customers lost power in the state Friday night.

More outages were reported in Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Indiana and Texas.

Fire crews battled several flames near El Dorado, Kansas, and some residents were asked to evacuate, including about 250 schoolchildren who attended the high school.

At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, a traffic management system was implemented, which caused arriving airplanes to be delayed for almost two hours on average, WFLD-TV reported.

The National Weather Service’s Weather Forecast Center has predicted unusually large storm surges with the potential for hail, damaging wind gusts and strong tornadoes that could move over land for long distances.

Such “violent”. supercell thunder “They are only expected to become more common, especially in Southern states, as temperatures rise around the world.

Severe thunderstorms lashed at least 15 states in the US Midwest and South on Friday, prompting meteorologists to urge people to brace for dangerous weather, saying conditions were similar to those a week ago. He was driven by the population of the twister which killed at least 21 people in Mississippi.

“Thunderstorms” were predicted Friday afternoon it is only expected that it is more commonespecially in the southern states, as temperatures rise around the world.

A more destructive storm is coming as President Biden scanned string The deadly tornado that struck Mississippi one week ago, the government promised to help the area recover.

September Illinois meteorology professor and tornado expert Victor Gensini said Friday’s atmospheric conditions were similar to those involved in the deadly Mississippi storm.

The dangerous forecast is the result of strong southerly winds transporting large amounts of moisture from the northern Gulf of Mexico, where they interact with a consolidating weather system.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noah ordered the offices of the state executive branch to be closed in parts of the state Friday, as rain, snow and high winds are expected. Many counties were under blizzard or ice storm warnings.

The weather service is predicting another mass of intense storms next Tuesday in the same general area as last week. At least until April 10, it will be rough, Accuweather forecaster Brandon Buckingham said earlier this week.