A fierce storm system struck the South and Midwest Friday, spawning deadly tornadoes in Arkansas and Indiana, and a theater roof collapsed during a heavy metal music festival in Illinois.
Central Arkansas suffered “significant damage” on Friday, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, as meteorologists said a tornado touched down in North Little Rock, toppling buildings and killing at least three people and Dozens were injured.
State police also confirmed three people were killed in Indiana and a tornado in Belvidere, Illinois, that killed one person and injured 28, five of them seriously, said the city’s fire chief. were injured.
Arkansas declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard on Friday afternoon. Huckabee Sanders said at a news conference on Friday that 100 guards have been deployed across the state.
“Praying for all who were and will remain in this storm’s path,” she said in a separate Twitter post, adding that extensive damage was also seen in the city of Wayne, about 100 miles northeast of Little Rock.
Wayne Police Chief Richard Dennis told NBC affiliate KAIT of Jonesboro, Ark., that the town of about 8,000 suffered “total destruction.”
St. Francis County Coroner Miles Kimble said two people died in Wayne. Additional details about his death were not immediately available.
Further north in Indiana, three people were confirmed dead after a tornado struck Sullivan County, state police confirmed early Saturday.
There was no indication of how exactly the people died, Sgt. Matt Ames told NBC News that the names of the dead have not been released.
He said several houses were destroyed and trees fell on power lines. He said no one else was reported injured.
Elsewhere in Illinois, Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Shadley said about 260 people were attending a heavy metal concert at the city’s Apollo Theater when the roof collapsed during a tornado.
“At the time of the collapse, we launched a massive response with multiple agencies,” he said. “There were multiple injuries. There was one death.
He said first responders rescued someone from an elevator and had to contend with downed power lines outside the theater in the city, about 70 miles west of Chicago.
Elsewhere, the tornado moved across parts of eastern Iowa with sporadic damage. A tornado touched down just west of Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa.
According to poweroutage.us, more than 530,000 people were without power in 10 states Saturday morning.
The devastating weather came as President Joe Biden visited the aftermath of a deadly tornado that hit Mississippi a week ago and promised the government would help the region recover.
Meteorologist Travis Shelton said the twister that touched down in North Little Rock Friday afternoon also caused damage in Jacksonville and Sherwood.
A spokeswoman for the Emergency Management Agency in Pulaski County, which includes Little Rock, said 50 people were hospitalized. A spokeswoman for the health system said Baptist Health Medical Center was treating 21 people at two facilities in the Little Rock area, five of whom were in critical condition.
Images from Little Rock and surrounding areas showed mangled vehicles, downed power lines, downed trees, and destroyed homes. A photo broadcast by Little Rock’s NBC affiliate KARK shows Baskin Robbins where the side of the building was snapped.
Kenneth Bruton was leaving a grocery store when he got into his pickup, looked back, and saw a tornado coming over a hill.
“I got out of my truck and started running for shelter,” Bruton told Kark. He said the force of the wind knocked him in the face, but he was able to make it to a saloon.
“And as soon as I went in, lined up against the cement barrier, every single glass window flew out, and people flew back in,” Bruton said. And I held on. And it must have been just huddled a minute. I thought I was definitely a goner.
The Arkansas State Emergency Operations Center issued a full activation in response to the severe weather Friday afternoon, according to a statement.
Friday’s thunderstorms pose a risk of flash flooding from the Midwest to the Lower Mississippi Valley, according to the National Weather Service. The areas at greatest risk of flooding Friday night are in the Ohio, Tennessee, and Lower Mississippi Valleys.