At Least 4 Dead, 40 Injured Following Stage Collapse At Indiana State Fair

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Tragic event...thoughts and prayers are with all effected.

http://www.wthr.com/...ate-fairgrounds

http://www.indystar....pse?odyssey=mod

http://www.cnn.com/2...apse/index.html

Edited August 14, 2011 by PFDRes47cue

[Guest FD50]

wow. very sad. thank you for posting. prayers go out to the injured people.

[TAPSJ 30]

I Have A Few Friends Out Their...Very Tragic!!! Prayers Go Out To The Victims, The Families, And The Band Sugarland. God Bless Everyone!!!

Thomas

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I think this is the third stage collapse in the past 30 days or so....Flaming Lips in Oklahoma had their stage collapse like a week or two ago and Cheap Trick had theirs collapse last month.

Edited August 14, 2011 by SRS131EMTFF

[sfrd18 360]

Thoughts and prayers to the victims of this tragic accident.

[x129K 1,393]

Fuzzy - but dramatic at the end.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/videonetwork/1109693891001/Stage-collapse-at-Indiana-State-Fair

[x635 4,066]

Wow. We have those stages for a big music festival coming up here in Austin next month. We haven't seen rain or storms in months, but you never know. I hope they learn from this, because ACL has multiple stages like this.

And, as far as the Indianna incident, if you cancel the show and try to move people away, there would have been mass pandomnium causing other issues.

Tragic.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Wow. We have those stages for a big music festival coming up here in Austin next month. We haven't seen rain or storms in months, but you never know. I hope they learn from this, because ACL has multiple stages like this.

And, as far as the Indianna incident, if you cancel the show and try to move people away, there would have been mass pandomnium causing other issues.

Tragic.

You bring up a great point. I'm by no means saying what happened was not a tragedy but from past experiences, canceling the show could have cause more problems. We have all seen stories about mobs and riots that are sparked by spectators not getting what they hoped for or paid for. Who know how many more lives could have been lost in mass pandemonium.

[v85 212]

Considering there were apparently a few of these collapses over the summer; I have to ask if these structures are required to meet building codes, and if so, are they being inspected on a regular basis?

[Bnechis 3,961]

Considering there were apparently a few of these collapses over the summer; I have to ask if these structures are required to meet building codes, and if so, are they being inspected on a regular basis?

In NYS they must meet code. An inspection by code enforcement, would not detect a design flaw (just that it was built to an engineers plan) and may or may not detect an improper instilation.

[ny10570 745]

There are very few temporary structures capable of withstanding 60 - 70 mph wind gusts. I don't know the details of the other incidents, but this was a storm that was unexpectedly much stronger than any of the forecasts predicted.

[pasobuff 38]

There are very few temporary structures capable of withstanding 60 - 70 mph wind gusts. I don't know the details of the other incidents, but this was a storm that was unexpectedly much stronger than any of the forecasts predicted.

That is what I heard too - and that there was very little warning - maybe 5 minutes - of the approaching wind front.....with the wind gusts much higher than expected/forecast.....

[sfrd18 360]

Responders praised for incident response:

http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/indy-responders-lauded-collapse-response

[NJMedic 96]

Indiana fair tragedy was no 'fluke,' expert says

Weather Channel challenges governor's assertion with detailed look at events

In a recent AP article, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana was quoted as saying that the blast of wind that toppled the stage rigging at the Indiana State Fair, killing 5 people, was a "fluke event".

A "fluke" by definition is an unlikely chance occurrence. The destructive and deadly wind gust on Saturday evening in Indianapolis was no chance occurrence.

Let's stop bucketing meteorology and weather in general into some magical mystery science that can't be explained. When a tragic accident due to existing extreme weather conditions occurs, there is a notion to just throw your hands up in the air and say, "Well, nothing could have been done to avoid this" or "Nobody could have seen this coming" or "It was just a damn fluke". In many instances, that just simply is not the case and it wasn't the case in the tragedy at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Powerful, damaging winds were a known threat several days before and during the minutes leading up to the stage collapse.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44166368/ns/weather/t/indiana-fair-tragedy-was-no-fluke-expert-says/

Edited August 17, 2011 by NJMedic