There had been no warning from festival organizers of the storm, and the stage had not been evacuated before it collapsed.
That is NOT a good thing to hear. I was in the area and had known there were warnings an hour before it hit. Someone REALLY dropped the ball there
Now I wish I did go and try to warn them, but wouldn't have allowed much time anyways.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 08-01-2009 at 10:59 PM.
Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
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I smell a law suit coming. Surely the staff and and organisers of this Jamboree knew that bad weather conditions were coming. Like, if it's an outdoor concert you can be sure they were watching weather reports constantly. They failed by not warning the audience of what was coming.
There was a watch for the area and Camrose specifically since 10:14am. A warning was released for the "Leduc-Camrose-Wetaskiwin-Tofield" warning area at around 5pm... then a more detailed warning that included Camrose specifically was released at 6:04pm. However, once the earlier 5pm warning was released, weather radio's in the entire Leduc-Camrose-Wetaskiwin-Tofield warning area would have gone off alerting them. I hope it's not the case that they saw the warning (which included the direction it was moving and speed) and noticed that Camrose specifically wasn't named and decided to ignore it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary Herald
Camrose police Insp. Lee Foreman said police had put out a call to evacuate moments before the storm hit. It’s not clear whether or not that message had been relayed to organizers or people in the concert bowl.
And the following quotes make it sound like they didn't relay that warning at all and the concert was in full gear (although it probably would've only been a minute or two warning at that time). http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...626/story.html
Quote:
Panicked festival goers crouched down into balls as if frozen in fright, while others fled for shelter.
Quote:
There had been no warning from festival organizers of the storm, and the stage had not been evacuated before it collapsed.
Quote:
Doug Collins, one of Currington’s guitarists, was on stage when the wind hit.
“I was playing slide guitar and I have to look constantly at my hands,” Collins said. “All of a sudden, I saw this blast coming at me and I ran off the stage.
“One amp started falling toward me and that’s when it got bizarre. That’s when I ran.”
In other words... there is no good excuse as to why they weren't prepared for this.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 08-02-2009 at 01:57 AM.
Yeah, doesn't sound good for organizers of the event. Too bad..........possibly could have saved a life, although I'll hold judgement on that until we get more details.
Wow this is eerie. Two weeks ago I was at the FIB Benicassim music festival in Spain and on the Friday night my girlfriend and I staked out a spot in the very front of the main stage for Kings of Leon and held our spot there for about four or five hours. Seemingly out of nowhere during the act preceding KOL, Paul Weller, a freak wind/sandstorm came out of nowhere and Weller's set was cut short. Soon we could see all the lighting beams on the stage swinging wildly and the festival crew couldn't even go onstage to take apart the equipment; one giant sign next to the main stage tore and began flapping in the wind.
Meanwhile through all of this we were never given any announcements about what was happening. Eventually they said they would take down Paul Weller's equipment and set up for the next act. So the crowd waited, eager to see Kings of Leon. They finally set up for the next act but it turned out to be Tom Tom Club instead (which had to be called off after a few songs anyway because the wind picked up again). Kings of Leon never did play.
We thought we were at risk because of the thousands of angry people behind us pushing us against the barricade and we didn't think much about being at risk from the lights and mainstage falling on us in the front row. But as the BVJ demonstrates, that was a serious risk as well.
Soon after all this happened they shut down the festival for the night and the winds were at least gale force I would say, the kind that would hold you up as you lean into it. Not to mention being sandblasted. Luckily we weren't camping because all the campsites got destroyed, and the next day the mainstage was in tatters (but still upright).
My sister had backstage tickets for the act that was on when the storm hit. But they decided to stay at their campsite and drink instead, so everyone on her crew is okay
I was at the event, right beside the stage in a tent when it collapsed. The reality is, the storm itself isn't what collapsed the stage, there was a wind a meteorologist described as a 'plough wind' about 20kms ahead of the storm. When the wind hit, it had not even started raining.
The initial warning that there was a dangerous wind came from RCMP and they alerted organizers at 5:53, by 5:55 the emcee was up on stage preparing to introduce the next act, when he was handed the alert, he started to warn people, then it hit. Environment Canada did not release a Thunderstorm warning for camrose until just after 6. 10 minutes after the stage collapsed. I can honestly say there was no negligence in the handling of the situation by the production company, the organizers simply weren't informed in time. Environment Canada didn't have a warning out until the worst was over.
We'll agree to disagree then. I feel that if they were truly continuously monitoring the situation that they should have ceased the concert before to give more time to shut down. People shouldn't wait until the warning applies to their specific area to make a decision, as a warning means imminent or currently occuring. I understand that the winds were ahead of the storm, but that's common, to me it just feels like they were trying to cut it as close as they could.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 08-02-2009 at 03:37 PM.
Kelliann Oakey and her two friends were packing up their belongings yesterday afternoon. Oakey said she felt badly for those injured, but was still upset that so much money went down the drain.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed. We spent a lot of money to come here and it was a complete waste. We got one day to have a good time. It was a $500 weekend and it was a complete waste of money."
I love how the Sun actively goes out to find the stupidest people on earth for their quotes.
What a selfish little female dog...
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Not at all, as I've said, I would rather start with LA over any of the other WC playoff teams. Bunch of underachievers who look good on paper but don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.
I love how the Sun actively goes out to find the stupidest people on earth for their quotes.
What a selfish little female dog...
this one boggles my mind
Quote:
Anybody gonna blame the Harper government here for this tragedy?
Maybe if his environmental policy was different, the storm might not have happened and the stage wouldn't have collapsed...
Not at all, as I've said, I would rather start with LA over any of the other WC playoff teams. Bunch of underachievers who look good on paper but don't even deserve to be in the playoffs.
Weather for the weekend was suppsed to be good, a few hours before it hit Enviro Canada released a weather alert - of course they didnt annouce it there.
The same weather system shut down the Heritage Festival in Edmonton. Wind like that doesnt occur in Camrose, plain and simple. The stuff we had here last night around 2am was crazy. My condo building was shaking - I was woken up by my blinds going crazy so I go check whats going on and the lightning storm was crazy good.
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Wow, awful news to hear. My wife and I were really close to going to BVJ but opted instead to drive to Coeur D'Alene for the weekend. I saw something on CNN about a festival stage collapsing in Canada and my heart sunk.
