Storm Kills 5 Injures 45 at Indiana State Fair

[Rick]

We had a pretty heavy storm move through last night that was preceded by very heavy winds. One of those gusts caused the collapse of a stage at the Indiana State Fair last night. The title says the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSI2z-HEneo&feature=player_embedded

(http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/video/state-fair-stage-collapse)

[Rick]

They just held a press conference. Four were killed at the time of the collapse. One died over night as the result of injuries. 45 were taken to area hospitals some with severe injuries so the death toll could still rise. That according to the press conference.

The Weather Service predicted the storm would arrive at 9:15 and fair authorities were already in process of putting their severe weather plans in place. The performance of Sugarland had been postponed until after the weather passed and building were open for folks to take shelter in. Approximately, 9:00 p.m. a sudden micro burst hit the stage area causing the collapse. The actual storm arrived at 9:15 as predicted.

[NCI]

Prayers sent for families of deceased and for the injured.

[Winter]

That's horrible. Situational awareness and the best prepared mindset would not help in this situation.

RIP, prayers out to the families, and a speedy recovery for the injured.

[Rick]

Our Governor gave a pretty emotional talk during the press conference. Mitch even had to stop at one point and compose himself. Both his wife and daughter were at the concert but neither were injured fortunately. One thing that really stands out in all the videos you see is how quickly everyone pours in to help. Despite a very unsecured platform doctors, nurses, first responders and lay people of every sort responded to help those they could. Indiana is still very much a neighbor help neighbor community.

[whitis]

From what I can see in the video, this looks like it was the result of lack of adequate cross-bracing. this is a common mistake - to prepare only for the ""normal" gravity load. A very similar stage collapse occurred less than a month earlier at the Cheap Trick concert at the Ottawa blues fest. At least that one fell away from the audience. And when that hapened people were posting about previous incidents. In Aug 2009, the stage collapse at the Big Valley Jamboree killed 1 and injured 75. A week ago, before the Flaming Lips concert in Oklahoma, the canopy survived but the giant LED screen collapsed.

They typically do have some guy wires for cross bracing but only on three sides of the cube. None in the front, none on top. Flaming lips had some guy wires outside the box (like you would on a tent). No rigid corner braces. There is a stagemaster line of strain gages marketed specifically for measuring the tension in these cables but in a situation like this that provides little warning before a collapse.

Notice that the roof trusses which are inherently cross braced/triangular remained almost entirely intact even after hitting the ground.

The wind wasn't blowing people over, indicating winds were not that extreme; the stage shouldn't have blown over either.

[hunter63]

Prayers sent, and best wishes for the injured, sadly a day of fun turns into a tragedy.
Has happened around here, as well, in the past.

[crashdive123]

Saw it on the news this morning. Thoughts and prayers for the victims and families.

This just shows that TS can HTF at anytime and anyplace.

[Rick]

Actually, people were blown over by the winds as well as other structures on the grounds almost all of that to the rear and right of the stage. That according to the news conference this morning. The wind speeds have been clocked at 70 mph. If you watch the video below, which is at a slightly different angle, you can see a strong blast of wind hit the structure at .06 seconds into the video. Two seconds later it leans over. The state fire marshal is investigating the accident so I'm sure we'll have a definitive answer within a few weeks. I would guess that beyond those questions you posed in your post one would also have to look at the gauge of the downguys as well as the anchoring system they were attached to.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/08/14/2011-08-14_indiana_state_collapse_was_fluke_accident_cause d_by_massive_winds_governor_says_.html

[Winnie]

I heard about this from a friend. Such a sad accident. You Never know when things can go wrong.