Tornadoes hit central US: At least 11 killed, including one at Illinois concert

At least 11 people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through areas of the South and Midwest of the US on Saturday. In addition, a heavy metal concert was disrupted in Illinois when the roof of a packed theatre collapsed.

As part of a vast storm system that also brought wildfires to the southern Plains and blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest, perhaps dozens of tornadoes touched down in the early morning hours in at least seven states, wrecking houses and uprooting trees.

As the storms engulfed a region of the country where 85 million people live, many lost electricity. Four people died in Wynne, Arkansas, a small town, while three people died in Sullivan, Indiana.

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Other fatalities were reported in Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, and the area of Little Rock.

“I’m sad that my town has been hit so hard,”Heidi Jenkins, a salon owner told AP.“Our school is gone, my church is gone. I’m sad for all the people who lost their homes,” she said.

Recovery efforts were already under way, with workers using chain saws to help remove fallen trees and bulldozers to move debris from destroyed buildings. Power was restored by utility vehicles. The volunteer groups convened to make plans for the day.

Apollo Theatre's roof collapses

One person was killed and 28 people were injured, five of them seriously, when a tornado in Belvidere, Illinois, destroyed the Apollo Theatre's roof as 260 people were watching a heavy metal concert indoors.

Gabrielle Lewellyn, who had just entered the theatre, told WTVO-TV that others hurried to lift the part of the ceiling that had collapsed and drag people out from underthe debris.

“They dragged someone out from the rubble, and I sat with him and I held his hand and I was (telling him) ‘It’s going to be OK.’ I didn’t really know much else what to do,” Lewellyn told AP.

The bands slated to perform were listed as Morbid Angel, Crypta, Skeleton Remains, and Revocation on the venue's Facebook page.

About 95 miles (150 kilometres) southwest of Indianapolis, in Sullivan County, Indiana, close to the Illinois border, three people died.

Authorities in the Little Rock area reported at least one fatality and more than 20 serious injuries.

The tornadoes occurred only a few hours after President Joe Biden visited the Mississippi hamlet of Rolling Fork, where parts of the community were devastated by tornadoes last week.

(With inputs from agencies)

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