Gov. J.B. Pritzker to visit Belvidere, Robinson Sunday following emergency disaster proclamation – Chicago Tribune

[ad_1]

Governor J.B. Pritzker will visit the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere this morning to survey damage caused by the Friday tornadothat killed one man and injured 40 adults during a metal concert.

According to his public daily schedule, Pritzker will arrive at 10 a.m. to 104 N. State Street, Belvidere, the site where a EF-1 twister caused the theater’s roof to collapse onto the crowd Friday evening.

Dan Zaccard, director of Boone County emergency management, told the Tribune that 50-year-old Frederick Forest Livingston, Jr. died in the collapse. By Saturday, Zaccard said that some of the 40 wounded had already gone home. Those still hospitalized had mostly suffered “head trauma and soft tissue injuries,” he said. None of the injured were children.

Zaccard also confirmed that a tornado caused the accident. Characterized as an EF-1, the storm had wind speeds between 90 and 100 miles per hour, he said.

“The weather service did their survey and found the tornado had a 28-mile track that started in Ogle County and ended in North Boone County,” Zaccard said.

Belvidere is located in central Boone County.

Later Sunday, Pritzker will travel to Robinson and give a 2 p.m. news conference on the storm damage. At least three people died in Crawford County due to Friday storms, Illinois State Rep. Adam Niemerg announced during a Saturday news conference. The names of the dead were not yet released at that time, but Niemerg said his office will continue to provide updates.

Twelve tornadoes tore through Illinois Friday evening, the National Weather Service confirmed.

Pritzker issued an emergency disaster proclamation on Saturday evening for Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion and Sangamon Counties to unlock immediate assistance and public safety support for communities impacted by Friday’s severe weather, according to an emailed statement from the governor’s office.

“The devastating storms that swept through our state last night have upended communities and resulted in heartbreaking injury and loss of life,” Pritzker said in the statement.



[ad_2]

Source link