Indiana State Fair Tragedy

**FDWxMan** · 08-13-2011, 10:02 PM

Severe thunderstorms knock down stage rigging at Sugarland concert.

4 dead, 12 injured.

Sugarland is scheduled to be at the Iowa State Fair tomorrow night.

**mred** · 08-13-2011, 10:06 PM

Scary stuff.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdpzTOTo_UI]Indiana Stage Fair Stage Collapse! Sugarland Concert - YouTube[/ame]

**cstrunk** · 08-13-2011, 11:59 PM

That is pretty frightening. I wonder if the Indiana State Fair had any severe weather evacuation plans in place for this? It seems as though everyone is just staying put. Wouldn't people out "in the open" by the stage be warned to seek shelter?

A CNN article explains that the commander of special operations for the Indiana State Police took stage and warned the crowd of the impending severe weather. This was 10 minutes before the wind picked up and blew the stage over.

**CloneFan65** · 08-14-2011, 01:09 AM

Very sad. It seems like the rigging at an outdoor concert should be built to withstand wind gusts of 53 mph.

**cstrunk** · 08-14-2011, 01:24 AM

Viewer discretion is advised.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkdwrmzYXg]Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse - YouTube[/ame]

**alarson** · 08-14-2011, 01:33 AM

wow. harder to watch knowing some didnt make it out of there.

**MNCYWX** · 08-14-2011, 01:42 AM

Tragic. Sad. Unnecessary.

That video was hard to watch.

**tm3308** · 08-14-2011, 01:45 AM

Originally Posted by alarson

wow. harder to watch knowing some didnt make it out of there.

It feels kind of like watching footage from 9/11, of the people jumping out. Not quite the same, but in the ballpark.

**CloneIce** · 08-14-2011, 04:01 AM

It goes without saying, but A stage that size at a large outdoor concert should be able to hold up to winds of that magnitude.

**SvrWxCy** · 08-14-2011, 08:30 AM

Winds were estimated to be between 60-70 mph when it impacted the stage; a temporary stage for a concert is most likely not going to built to withstand those winds. The best course of action when a severe storm is heading into an area like this is that fans should have been evacuated or at least pushed into/under the grandstand area.

There are many things that could go wrong for people that are in the open with such a storm coming in and unfortunately one of the worst things happened that most people didn't even think of. A very similar thing happened in Toronto just a few weeks ago where 50 mph winds blew over a stage, thankfully no one was hurt there. Besides the stage collapsing you could have had lightning strikes with all of those outdoors, and that likely would have killed/injured even more...

**ItsCyence** · 08-14-2011, 08:33 AM

Remind me to never read YouTube comments. Those people ******* **** me off!

**Clonefan94** · 08-14-2011, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by SvrWxCy

Winds were estimated to be between 60-70 mph when it impacted the stage; a temporary stage for a concert is most likely not going to built to withstand those winds. The best course of action when a severe storm is heading into an area like this is that fans should have been evacuated or at least pushed into/under the grandstand area.

There are many things that could go wrong for people that are in the open with such a storm coming in and unfortunately one of the worst things happened that most people didn't even think of. A very similar thing happened in Toronto just a few weeks ago where 50 mph winds blew over a stage, thankfully no one was hurt there. Besides the stage collapsing you could have had lightning strikes with all of those outdoors, and that likely would have killed/injured even more...

There are times there is nothing you can do. And an evacuation plan should have been in place. But this isn't the first time this kind of thing happened. And especially here in the Illinois, Indiana area, we have been getting pounded with flash storms all summer. It slowed down a bit in late June and early July, but imo, these things should be built to withstand a severe Thunderstorm. They are pretty common in the Midwest in the Summer. And this year especially seem to be the norm more than a rarity. We've had too many storms just pop up this year without much warning to not start thinking about building these stronger.

That being said though, sometimes life is this way. There is no preparing for all scenarios. And sometimes really bad things happen. It's kind of like me saying houses should be built to withstand tornadoes. It would be great, but it's just not feasible. In the end. I feel bad for the people and families impacted by this kind of tragedy. My prayers are with them.

**Die4Cy** · 08-14-2011, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by CloneFan65

Very sad. It seems like the rigging at an outdoor concert should be built to withstand wind gusts of 53 mph.

Put up properly it likely would.

When crews have to assemble and disassemble a rigging like this in a matter of hours on a near daily basis, it is likely that corners get cut in places that seem inconsequential but would weaken the structure significantly under these circumstances.

I would bet that rigging was engineered to withstand a much greater wind force than the one that took it down.

Lawsuits to follow, we will ultimately find out what happened?

**SvrWxCy** · 08-14-2011, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Die4Cy

Lawsuits to follow, we will ultimately find out what happened?

Their press conference this morning touched on the fact that the company that is in charge of the structure has engineers there to determine the cause of what happened and if anything may have led to such a disaster. So I would hope that if anything was done improperly that it would ultimately come out into the public view...

**Wesley** · 08-14-2011, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by SvrWxCy

Winds were estimated to be between 60-70 mph when it impacted the stage; a temporary stage for a concert is most likely not going to built to withstand those winds. The best course of action when a severe storm is heading into an area like this is that fans should have been evacuated or at least pushed into/under the grandstand area.

There are many things that could go wrong for people that are in the open with such a storm coming in and unfortunately one of the worst things happened that most people didn't even think of. A very similar thing happened in Toronto just a few weeks ago where 50 mph winds blew over a stage, thankfully no one was hurt there. Besides the stage collapsing you could have had lightning strikes with all of those outdoors, and that likely would have killed/injured even more...

60 mph winds are common in summer. They need to be prepared.