Gov. J.B. Pritzker visits Belvidere and Robinson following emergency disaster proclamation: ‘a devastating day for the families of the deceased’

Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere Sunday morning to survey damage caused by the Friday tornado that killed one man and injured more than 40 adults during a metal concert.

Later in the day, he held a news conference in Robinson, a city of roughly 7,200 people about 290 miles southeast of Belvidere. Three people were killed and eight others injured in the Robinson area, which is located in Crawford County.

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

“This is a devastating day for the families of the deceased,” Pritzker said at the afternoon news conference, flanked by various state and Crawford County officials. “There are no words that can alleviate the pain of such a tragic and sudden loss.”

Pritzker declared a state disaster proclamation for Boone County, which includes Belvidere, Crawford County, DuPage County in Chicago’s western suburbs, Sangamon County in the Springfield area and Marion County in south-central Illinois. These counties will be prioritized by the Pritzker administration to receive state help to aid in their cleanup and recovery efforts.

With more severe weather predicted for Election Day, the Chicago Board of Elections urged voters to early vote Monday or vote early in the day Tuesday. The weather service is forecasting damaging winds, hail and potential tornadoes Tuesday afternoon and evening.

In Belvidere, Pritzker praised the “quick work” of residents and first responders who helped pull people out of the rubble after the tornado touched down Friday evening. He said their actions saved lives.

“The people of Illinois know when others are hurting,” he said. “Neighbors show up for each other to help alleviate the suffering, and as your governor, I really couldn’t be more proud of everyone.”

The news conference took place at 104 N. State St., Belvidere, the site where a twister caused the theater’s roof to collapse onto the crowd.

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 over 40 injured had already gone home. Those still hospitalized had mostly suffered “head trauma and soft tissue injuries,” he said. None of the injured were children.

During the Belvidere news conference, Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau also expressed gratitude for those who were on the scene Friday night.

“If it wasn’t for the fast and coordinated efforts on Friday night, we would have seen a more tragic outcome from the events,” Tate-Nadeau said. “I really want to tell you what a great job your fire and police have done for you in being able to respond to this incident. If it wasn’t for their actions, there would have been many more lost lives.”

Zaccard said the tornado, characterized as an EF-1, had wind speeds between 90 and 100 mph.

“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.

In Crawford County, Sheriff William Rutan said the tornado weather left more than an 18-mile trail of damage in the county. He told the Tribune that included in the damage was the Crawford County Airport. He said its hangars and a control center were damaged, though the runways were “untouched.” Nonetheless, he said the airport is unusable.

“It’s going to take a lot of time to fix this damage because there’s a lot of it,” Rutan said during the afternoon news conference, referring more broadly to the storm damage in Crawford County, which is rural and sits next to the Indiana border.

IEMA is also working with local officials to assess storm damage throughout Illinois.

Crawford County officials said they’re trying to figure out where to set up dumpsters for helping with their cleanup. State officials also praised the community for coming together, from high schoolers delivering lunch and water to utility workers to others trying to help people trapped in basements.

“I have to tell you that after seeing the damage and seeing the response so far, I’m most impressed with the resiliency of this community, the resiliency of the Crawford County community,” IEMA Deputy Director Scott Swinford said at the news conference. “I saw donations by local businesses. I saw volunteer groups. I saw neighbors helping neighbors.”

He also said he’s been in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency “more than once today and they are standing by to provide assistance as we find it necessary.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday that he’s reached out to Pritzker and spoken to other governors and other officials whose areas were affected by the storms, offering them any federal assistance they need.

“There’s nothing we can do to heal the hole left in the hearts of far too many families who lost loved ones this weekend, but we will be there every step of the way as they rebuild and recover,” said Biden.

Illinois state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet praised first responders trying to find people after the tornado in Crawford County “to bring them help and aid” and spoke of dangerous conditions in the aftermath of the tornado brought upon by live, downed power lines.

“This was a tragedy of enormous implication,” said Rose. “As bad as it was, it could’ve been so much worse.”

In Sangamon County in central Illinois, 30 to 40 homes were damaged just outside Springfield, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell told the Tribune. Much of that damage occurred in the town of Sherman, which borders the state’s capital. Campbell also said at least one horse stable was destroyed and 32 horses went missing. He said Sunday evening he did not know if they’ve been found.

Tornado weather also blew the roof off a child care facility in Riverton, also outside Springfield, Campbell said.

The only injuries Campbell attributed to the weather in the county was a single-vehicle crash that left two people hurt, but he didn’t know their conditions as of Sunday evening.

Pritzker said his administration is working alongside local officials to assess other storm impacts throughout the state. He said power will be restored to the remaining 4,400 people experiencing outages by Monday.