Roof collapse kills one man, injures dozens of others in Belvidere; officials confirm EF-1 tornado
BELIVEDERE, Ill. (CBS) -- After powerful storms collapsed a roof during a concert near Rockford, killing one man, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency shared photos from inside the Apollo Theater. They show a heap of bricks, wood and debris in front of the stage. All that debris fell on dozens of people trying to stake out a spot for the show.
CBS 2's Noel Brennan spoke with some people who witnessed Friday night's collapse firsthand.
Emergency managers believe it was a tornado that touched down in Belvidere and did this to the Apollo Theater. One person was killed and dozens were hurt. Two people have life-threatening injuries. Two have serious injuries. Eighteen others have moderate injuries, and five more have minor injuries.
The family has identified the man who was killed as Fred Livingston Jr., a 50-year-old music lover who leaves behind three sons.
While many walked away unscathed, they are still processing what they survived.
"It's not registering in my head what exactly happened, still. Didn't realize it, but I was in shock, too. I probably still am," said Christina Johnson.
The feeling from Friday has not worn off.
"It's just really hitting home what happened," said said Gabby Lewellyn.
"It's nothing compared to what it looked like last night," said Melissa Cooper. "It definitely looked like stepping into a war zone."
"I mean, not many people can say they survived a tornado at a death metal concert, but I guess I can now," said Johnson.
On Friday night the storm collided with a concert at the historic Apollo Theater.
"I was able to look out the door from the inside, and I could see the tornado coming directly at us," said Cooper.
"I think within 20 seconds, 30 seconds of being in there, they were talking about how they wanted to start moving people to the basement, and within maybe another 30 seconds after that is when the roof started to come down," said Lewellyn.
She started recording shortly after the collapse.
"There was just a lot of people in a daze. A lot of people just not knowing what to do," she said.
Authorities say a 50-year-old man was killed. More than 40 were treated at hospitals.
While it took firefighters just minutes to respond, death metal fans were the first to help.
"Everybody kind of like, they came together, and they were trying to lift the roof off people," said Johnson. "It just sucks to see it destroyed."
Those who escaped without a scratch are still scarred. The feeling sinks in as pieces are picked up.
"I really hope everyone's OK that made it out," said Lewellyn.
Emergency managers say tornado sirens went off at 7:24 Friday night, just over 20 minutes before the roof collapsed at the Apollo.
Concertgoers say they got warnings on their phones and there was eventually an effort to move people to the basement. But it came too late.
The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Belvidere with winds of 100 mph as it hit the Apollo Theater.
