4 Dead In Illinois, 16 Tornadoes Confirmed In Friday's Severe Weather

ILLINOIS — As of Monday morning, the toll from Friday's severe storms included four dead in Illinois after 16 tornadoes swept across the state, according to the National Weather Service.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Saturday issued a disaster proclamation affecting Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion and Sangamon counties following Friday's tornadoes.

One person was killed and 40 were injured after an EF-1 tornado damaged the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, causing a portion of the theater's roof to collapse. Estimated peak winds reached 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Frederick Forest Livingston, Jr., 50, was killed when the storm hit the music venue, ABC Chicago reported. Around 260 people attended a concert headlined by metal band Morbid Angel.

His son, Alex, told ABC he was standing next to his dad when the roof collapsed, crushing him. "I couldn't save him," he said. "It happened so fast, man."

Three people were also killed and eight injured when a tornado hit Crawford County near New Hebron, the Associated Press reported. Sheriff Bill Rutan said dozens of homes were destroyed and 60 to 100 families displaced, with crews digging people out of their basements after their homes collapsed on top of them.

As of Sunday, the death toll from tornadoes that swept through the South and Midwest, hitting Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, had risen to 32, including the four killed in Illinois, CNN reported.

Fourteen other tornadoes were confirmed around Illinois. The weather service said it is still surveying damage, and there is additional investigation ongoing.

Tornadoes happened across northern Illinois, and several also occurred in Indiana, and south of the Chicago area in the Wellington and Stockland areas, the weather service found.

The tornadoes ranged in severity from EF-0 to EF-2, according to the weather service. The Enhanced Fujita, or EF, scale, assigns tornadoes ratings based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. An EF-0 tornado ranges from 65-85 mph winds, while an EF-5 brings winds of more than 200 mph.

Tornadoes have been confirmed in:

• Baileyville, rating to be determined
• Southwest Lee County, EF-1
• Amboy, EF-2
• West Brooklyn, EF-1
• Davis Junction to Belvidere, EF-1
• Machesney Park, EF-1
• Caledonia/Poplar Grove, rating to be determined
• Montgomery to Aurora, EF-0
• Wellington, EF-1
• Plainfield, EF-0
• Lombard to Addison, EF-1
• Stockland, EF-1
• Oxford, Indiana, EF-2
• Fowler, Indiana, EF-2
• Remington, Indiana, EF-1
• Merrillville to Hobart, Indiana, EF-1

In the Chicago suburbs, the confirmed tornado in Plainfield began near West 135th Street, just west of Meadow Lane and tracked east northeast before weakening near Route 59, according to the weather service. Estimated peak winds reached 80 mph, and caused damage to shingles, siding and trees.

Another tornado in the Chicago suburbs, from Lombard to Addison, reached estimated peak winds of 95 mph. The tornado began in an industrial park on the north side of Lombard, and went into Addison, south of Fullerton Avenue, according to the weather service.

A tornado was also confirmed from Montgomery to Aurora, with peak winds of 80 mph. According to the weather service, damage was done to an outbuilding and trees.

Another round of severe weather is expected to hit the Chicago area on Tuesday.