The tornado that hit the state of Arkansas yesterday, in the American South, claimed the lives of at least three people, while further north, the collapse of a theater roof due to a severe storm caused the death of at least one person and the injury of 28 others, according to the authorities.

In Arkansas, two people died in the city of Wynne, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the state’s Republican governor, said at a news conference, declaring a state of emergency and deploying about 100 National Guard members. “Central Arkansas sustained significant damage,” she tweeted.

Meanwhile, hard-hit Pulaski County, which includes the Arkansas capital of Little Rock, confirmed to AFP that there was a third person dead.

“Approximately 30 injured were transported to hospitals” in the city, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott announced.

The tornado tore off roofs and walls of buildings, scattered cars like toys, uprooted trees and knocked out part of the power grid. Lara Farrar, a reporter for a local financial paper, told AFP by phone that she was in “absolute shock” seeing the devastation near her home in Little Rock. “In some buildings the roof has been completely blown off,” she said, describing images of damaged buildings, collapsed walls and uprooted trees.

Hours later, another tornado or strong gust of wind is believed to have caused the roof of an auditorium in northern Illinois to collapse, causing the roof to collapse while a rock band was performing on stage, officials said.

One person died and 28 others were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, five of them with serious injuries, Sean Saddle, the fire chief in the small town of Belvidere, west of Chicago, Illinois, on the border with the state of Wisconsin. According to him, about 260 people attended the concert at the Apollo Theater in the city.