Apr. 1, 2023 9a
(WGTD/AP)---A survey team from the National Weather Service is examining damage in Walworth County from a suspected Tornado Friday night.
The service received reports of a tornado on the ground at about 8:15 p.m.
There were numerous reports of damage to buildings in a line that included Sharon, Delavan, Elkhorn and East Troy.
The severe weather was part of a system that affected a broad area of the country overnight.
In Belvidere, south of Walworth County and east of Rockford, the roof of the Apollo Theatre collapsed, killing one person and injuring 28, five severely. Calls began coming from the theater shortly before 8 p.m., police said. The venue's Facebook page said the bands scheduled to perform were Morbid Angel, Crypta, Skeletal Remains and Revocation.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle said 260 people were in the venue. Responders also rescued someone from an elevator and had to deal with downed power lines outside the theater.
Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody described the scene after the collapse as “chaos, absolute chaos.”
Gabrielle Lewellyn had just entered the theater when a portion of the ceiling collapsed.
“I was there within a minute before it came down,” she told WTVO-TV. “The winds, when I was walking up to the building, it went like from zero to a thousand within five seconds.”
Some people rushed to lift the collapsed portion of the ceiling and pull people out of the rubble, said Lewellyn, who wasn’t hurt.
“They dragged someone out from the rubble and I sat with him and I held his hand and I was (telling him) ‘It’s going to be OK.’ I didn’t really know much else what to do.”
-0-