Communities in at least seven states on Saturday began assessing destruction left by a powerful storm system on Friday that spawned ferocious tornadoes, killing at least 32 people and causing a roof at a packed venue in Illinois to collapse — the second such deadly outbreak of severe weather in the region in a week, The New York Times reports.
Fatalities were reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, the authorities said on Saturday, with Tennessee accounting for 15 deaths.
Officials said five people died in Arkansas, including an unidentified man in North Little Rock and four in Wynne, about 100 miles to the east, in separate tornadoes.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. of Little Rock said at a news conference on Saturday morning that they had been in touch with President Biden, who offered federal resources. The governor already declared a state of emergency on Friday, triggering access to statewide assistance, including the National Guard.
“We ask that everyone be patient as we work to respond as quickly as possible,” Mr. Scott said as he stood outside a fire station that had been mangled by the tornado.
In Wynne, Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN that the town had been “cut in half by damage from east to west.” A junior high school had been opened for people seeking shelter and food.
On Friday night in northern Illinois, a 50-year-old man was killed and 40 others were injured after the roof collapsed at a theater in Belvidere with 260 people inside, the Boone County emergency managing director, Dan Zaccard, told reporters at a news conference on Saturday morning.
At least two people had life-threatening injuries, according to Dr. Matt Smetana, medical director for Boone County.
Concertgoers helped rescue people from the rubble, officials said, including the man who died. Footage on social media appeared to show patrons at the venue, the Apollo Theater, trying to find people beneath the debris.
