We deal with this every day. Some yahoo views science as anti God and chaos ensues. Gov. Daniels likes to say this was a fluke, and could not have been foreshadowed. This is not the case. In fact, anybody with even a modicum of science knowledge could have looked at the wind patterns and the structure and been made aware of the need for concert cancellation.
Now this would not be fairgoers. This would have been people looking at radar and anemometers and all kinds of new fangled watchamacalits that could have saved lives. Let me explain with the help of Doug Matthews, a special event coordination expert.
Every recent summer seems to bring out not only the worst in weather but also dangerous situations at summer festivals that accompany the weather.
Exactly two years ago today, a main stage roof at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta collapsed, killing one person and injuring 75 as a result of a sudden storm and high winds. As of last Friday, 33 charges were laid stemming from that collapse.
See http://m.ctv.ca/... and http://www.calgaryherald.com/...
As you may recall Cheap trick was involved in a stage collapse as well just recently, also attributed to a high gust of wind.
He continues:
What most worries me as I read these reports is not whether the producers of these large festivals followed the standards, it is how many producers and planners of much smaller community and private outdoor summer events even know that such a standard exists, and what kind of liability situations they are unknowingly placing themselves and other organizations in.
You get that part? What likely happened is that business people do what business people do: put profits first. What is most unsettling is the fact that despite warnings, the fair operators continued to announce the concert was on schedule. Here he goes on to list wind load requirements for temporary structures:
3.5.2.1 The wind load on all exposed surfaces including but not limited to truss and tower sections, scaffolding, roof skin, back drops, banners, advertisements, and suspended equipment shall be considered.
3.5.2.2 The overall stability and resistance to wind uplift and overturning forces shall be provided by means such as wire guys anchored to ground anchors (or ballast), diagonal braces, ballast applied to the tower sections, self weight of roof top (the dead load) and live loads.
3.5.2.3 The design wind speed for structures as defined by this document shall be 0.75 times the basic wind speed defined in ASCE 7.
There is more but fair use requires me to throw you to the link. The point is temporary structures are always dangerous because they are not built to sustain natural wind flow patterns because they have not been tested for them. I will refer you here for more information about the need for wind flow testing when building permanent structures.
What we have is a situation where it may not have been the gust, but a lack of proper planning to handle the incoming wind flow, a lack of proper set up, and profits before human beings at play. The idea about nobody could have seen it coming is laughable. It has been happening, and more frequently, possibly because climate change is altering low altitude wind flow, but wait, oh, more science my bad. The conclusions won't be completely drawn for a while, but five people died, including this sweet girl, a noted GLBT force for change, Christina Santiago. (If you can find a way to contribute and support her family let me know.) This was not a fluke, this was a preventable tragedy. Adherence to basic scientific tenets and consideration for human beings could have prevented it.
A personal note, some have attacked me for being a racist troll. This hurts me. I care very deeply about equality, and while my tendency is to rail against excuses, I may have missed a broader point as it applies to social struggles. For that I apologize, but please understand racism exists in all races, not just mine. But I care about our values and our future. I will continue to fight for absolute equality.