Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

The pits began to flood. I felt so bad for the team close to the door, I hope all your guy's stuff was okay, 68's pits were just a foot away from the water.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

This happened to teams at the Pittsburgh regional when there was the shooting. Teams were just told to stay inside and no one was really told why. I imagine it was to keep panic to a minimum.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

I liked when the announcer mentioned basketballs hailing down on the Einstein while the dome was being hailed on.

I went from being terrified to "ahaha thats funny" and then back to being terrified.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Except the actual message didn't have any punctuation. This let me choose to read the message as "Will the severe weather please remain within the Edward Jones Dome." :)

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Ironically the back of Team 3999's shirts say: "A storm is coming." When I heard about the tornado and hail, I thought my shirt had a prophecy inscribed on it. :cool:

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Up until I saw the severe weather alert on the billboards, I hadn't really noticed the roof of the dome... after the alert, I think I watched the roof more than I watched Einstein.

I understand the whole "minimize pacic" argument, but there was a tornado within viewing distance of the dome, I felt that something should have been done at that point to ensure everyone would be safe in the event the tornado hit the dome.

I tend to get freaked out by sever weather, so maybe it's just me, but I think we saw a real lack of emergency planning/reaction and had the worst come to pass that lack of planning could have been a major disaster for FIRST as a whole...

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

We were already in the safest place available in the Dome. I was sitting in the volunteer lounge and we were asked to head to the dome due to severe weather coming and the Dome being the safest place.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

If we can't handle entering the dome in a non-emergency, how would we evacuate in a real one?

Ultimately, I would say that trying to evacuate a group of 20000 people under a major time crunch would be way less safe than leaving them in the dome, which is likely built to building codes meant for this kind of a situation.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

FIRST was following the weather conditions constantly and was in contact with the National Weather Bureau. The path of the storm was relayed to those in charge and were told that the dome was clear of the main cells path. This led to the decision to stay put.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Actually, there were many similarities between the events. In Pittsburgh the lockdown was announced without detail, but it was relatively easy to find the cause because the initial shooting events could be accessed on smart phones, and anyone outside of the pit / field area could see the police activity due to multi-floor windows in lobby (which overlooked Western Psych, site of shooting). The shooting was literally next door to the Peterson Events Center and all roads were block by police / emergency / and SWAT vehicles.

Like St Louis, those inside were told to stay away from windows (although at Perterson Events center windows are bullet proof).

In Pittsburgh the lockdown was MUCH longer (5-6 hours, but emergency was prior to the start of region - on Thursday when teams were just practicing) and the nature of the threat was far from clear (search was in progress for second shooter, who did not exist).

Both events were handled well and there was no clear sign of panic. The injuries and death in St Louis were headlined on cable news sources like CNN and the warnings were carried on weather channels, so details on the emergency were available almost in real time, which was also true in Pittsburgh.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Our pit was literally underwater, but someone came by and moved our stuff away from the developing puddle as soon as it happened. To whomever did that, thanks! Also, thanks to 68 (who picked us for the alliance), most of our pit was on the dome floor.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

And, I suppose, if the weather doesn't suit us, we should just wait around for a few hours :p
Um, yeah, that was me. Sorry. :eek:

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Was the water in the pits from leaks in the roof, or from water blowing in from open doors?

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

Did anyone else see all of the volunteers sprinting off of the dome floor? That was my freak-out moment.

Re: Severe Weather Precautions in STL
 

I got a text message of, "Fyi, horrible storms outside, heard tornado sirens..." Checked the weather and saw the cell. I was like "Oh holy smokes, we are near a tornado" Then got a text message that told my friend and I to get up to the stands (we were on the floor watching Einstein) and it said a capital "NOW" so..........freak out time!