 The Apollo Theatre following tornado damage | |
| Date | March 31, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Time | 7:43 p.m. CST (UTC–6) |
| Venue | Apollo Theatre, located in Belvidere, Illinois |
| Type | Structural failure |
| Cause | Tornado |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 28 |
| Missing | 0 |
On the evening of March 31, 2023, a tornado struck the the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, causing the ceiling of the theatre to suffer a critical structural failure and collapse onto a concert for the death metal bands Morbid Angel and Crypta with over 200 in attendence. The tornado touched down as part of a larger severe weather outbreak, and was determined to have had winds of 90–100 miles per hour (140–160 km/h) as it hit the theatre.
Background
editThe Apollo Theatre had opened on January 11, 1922, in the downtown district of Belvidere. In 2017, it was owned by Maria Martinez.[1]
In November 2022, Morbid Angel announced their 2023 tour "United States Tour of Terror 2023", alongside Revocation, Skeletal Remains, Vitriol, and Crypta. This tour would bring them to Belvidere's Apollo Theatre on March 31, 2023, following the previous day's concert at Milwaukee's The Rave, where the aforementioned bands (minus Vitriol) would be performing.[2]
Timeline
edit
A tornado outbreak occurred on March 31, an event described as the "tornado outbreak of the decade" and compared to the 1974 and 2011 Super Outbreaks by NOAA meteorologist Andrew Lyons.[3] The Storm Prediction Center outlined a rare high risk convective outlook for two areas; a southern area including much of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and a northern area including parts of Iowa and northern Illinois.[4] Earlier in the day, multiple intense to violent tornadoes were reported across the Mississippi valley, including two deadly EF3 tornadoes in Little Rock and Wynne, Arkansas.[5] In northern Illinois, a tornado watch had been issued at 2:35 pm until 10:00 pm that evening.[6]
Event coordinators recorded that approximately 260 were inside the Apollo Theatre that night, including concertgoers and staff.[7] ABC7 Chicago reported that the concert had been completely sold out.[8]
At 7:23 pm, a tornado warning was issued until 8:30 pm that included Boone County and Belvidere.[9] Municipal sirens began sounding around 7:24 pm.[10] However, authorities believe that the loud music may have overpowered the sound of the sirens.[7] Also at this time, the National Weather Service records that the damage path of an EF1 tornado had begun southwest of Davis Junction in rural Ogle County, which moved northeast towards Belvidere, crossing Interstate 90 in the southeast of the city around 7:40 pm.[11]
At around 7:43 pm, the tornado struck the Apollo Theatre, with maximum winds estimated from damage between 90–100 mph (140–160 km/h) at that point in its life. The upper portion of the structure's roof, including 3 to 5 feet of the upper structure itself, was completely removed, lofted, and dropped on the other side of the street. The lower roof structure above the concert collapsed directly into the venue.[11] Belvidere Fire Chief Schadle stated that 50-year-old Frederick Forest Livingston, Jr. died in the collapse, and twenty-seven others suffered varying degrees of injuries, including two that suffered life-threatening injuries.[7]
Lieutenant Drall of the Belvidere Fire Department was the first response agent on the scene and took command of search and rescue operations upon arrival.[12]
At 8:52 pm, Morbid Angel released a post confirming the cancellation of the show, 70 minutes after the tornado hit.[7]
Response
editFollowing the collapse, two concertgoers stated in an interview with ABC that "[e]veryone kind of chuckled off the phone alerts", claiming that upon receiving a tornado warning that "99% of the time it's uneventful".[10]
Aftermath
editBy June 28, six lawsuits had been filed against the theatre for failing to protect concertgoers from the risk of injury or death.[13] Maria Martinez, the owner of the Apollo Theatre, claimed in a September 2023 interview that the theatre received no federal or state disaster relief funds, while stating that the theatre would reopen on September 16 of that year.[14]
See also
edit- 1967 Belvidere tornado, an F4 tornado that struck the city 56 years earlier
- Belvidere High School (Illinois), a school hit by that tornado where 13 died
- Indiana State Fair stage collapse
References
edit- ^ "Photos: Apollo Theatre in Belvidere through the years". Rockford Register Star. June 1, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ "LAVAREPORT". morbidangel.com. Morbid Angel. November 2, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
- ^ Olsen, Max; Lyons, Andrew; Greenwood, Trey; Hernandez, Jacob; Charles, Tanner; Wright, Taylor; Pitts, Devin; Hall, Zachary (March 30, 2024). "3/31/2023 - The Tornado Outbreak of the Decade" (Video & Interviews). YouTube. @MaxOlsonChasing. Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
- ^ "Mar 31, 2023 1630 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook". Storm Prediction Center. March 31, 2024.
- ^ "March 31, 2023 - The Little Rock EF-3 Tornado". National Weather Service Little Rock, Arkansas. March 18, 2024. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ^ Hart (March 31, 2023). "Tornado Watch 96". Storm Prediction Center.
- ^ a b c d Clark, John (March 31, 2023). "1 dead, 2 critical, dozens injured as roof of Belvidere's Apollo Theater collapses in storm". Mystateline. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ "Apollo Theatre roof collapses during sold-out metal show in Belvidere; 1 dead, 28 injured". WLS-TV. March 31, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ "LOT Tornado Warning #013". iastate.edu. National Weather Service Chicago, Illinois. March 31, 2024.
- ^ a b "1 dead, over 40 injured after roof of Illinois theater collapses during suspected tornado: Officials". ABC News. April 1, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ a b "Damage Assessment Toolkit". National Weather Service.
- ^ "On March 31st, at 07:42 pm a EF1 tornado struck a building occupied with 260 persons". facebook.com. Belvidere Fire Department. May 24, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ Ingalls, William (June 28, 2023). "Apollo Theatre in Belvidere now faces six lawsuits following March tornado". WREX.
- ^ Ingalls, William (September 15, 2023). "Apollo Theatre owner speaks for first time after deadly tornado hit her business". WREX.