Sanders announced she would be visiting tornado damaged areas Saturday and meeting with Arkansans impacted by the storm in Little Rock.
A severe weather event across northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana brought “widespread wind damage with multiple tornadoes,” thunderstorms and scattered large hail to the area, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service.
State police confirmed three people were killed in Indiana, and a tornado in Boone County, Illinois, specifically the city of Belvidere, killed a 50-year-old man and injured 28 others when the roof of a concert venue collapsed Friday night at the Apollo Theater. Of the 28 people who were taken to the hospital, five had serious injuries, according to Belvidere fire officials.
Belvidere Officials could not speak to any warning given to concert goers, or if any were advised to move to a safe place. The loud concert may have prevented attendees from hearing the tornado sirens that blared in the area Friday night.
It’s not confirmed how many tornadoes hit Illinois and Indiana, but the National Weather Service reported many areas with structural damage and potential tornadoes, including Baileyville, Belvidere, Mendota and downtown Batavaia in Illinois and Merillville in Indiana.
The severe weather event for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana has come to an end, according to the National Weather Service field office in Chicago.
In Arkansas, weather conditions are expected to be calmer on Saturday across the state.
“Much calmer conditions are expected across the state today before another round of rain moves through Sunday into Sunday night,” according to a tweet from the National Weather Service field office in Little Rock. “Severe weather chances are very low until Tuesday, when our next strong storm system approaches.”
Dennis Romero, Phil Helsel and Tim Stelloh contributed.