St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

This should make getting in to the Championship very interesting. The airport is closed. Hopefully they will get it open by next week.

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Now I'm glad our team opted for the cheaper-yet-more-time-consuming train ride! Good luck to all teams flying in!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

NOT what I want to hear after our incident traveling to DC. Where we took the train home, not there (which would have been faster then the plane I might add).

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Yikes! We have some families flying tomorrow and sunday since NH is on school vacation! :eek:

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...2e48d4fb21ad35

It doesn't look like there was any major damage to the airport, just some broken glass. It should be fine by the time FRC teams start arriving. But my cousins have said there have been multiple storms that had tornado warnings but few have produced an actual tornado. But still you should be on the look just incase.

But the real dilemma here was not getting to watch my Cards play, jk that was a joke.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Just spoke to my mom who lives in StL still. It's just a lot of small damage and not too much major damage at the airport. Its more the fact that rain & storms are forecasted for Monday through Thursday...

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

They're showing the damage at the airport on the news right now.

They say the airport has "suspended operations".

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

hopefully this isn't as bad as the Tornadoes in Downtown Atlanta a couple of years ago.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

CNN:

You can keep up to date at
http://www.fox2now.com/news/livestreaming/ or http://www.kplr11.com/news/live/. They're the same feed.

Edit: http://www.ksdk.com/video/live/default.aspx?menuid=111 and http://www.kmov.com/video/cbsnews are also live too.

Edit2: And this http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...&type=1&ref=nf appears to be a picture from inside the terminal.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Just in from my niece who lives in the area...."the pics on the TV tonight show planes and shuttle buses just tossed around and there is a car hanging off the edge of the parking garage by the front two tires!"

11:45 p.m. update from my niece... "Just announced that the airport is closed indefinitely...there is no power at the airport either and over 50% of the windows have been blown out!"

I hope everyone at the airport is okay!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Storm...#gallery-image

It appears that the tornado touched down on the side of the buildings by the parking and drop off area. While that will limit the damage that will affect the actual flights from what it could have been, it must have been pretty scary for the people who were working outside!

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Tommy, is everything okay up in north county?

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Ouch the only families using AA are flying in this weekend too!

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I'm glad we opted for a bus! That's really gonna make this years Championship a disappointment if many of the teams can't make it! Looks like they'll have to hope they can land at another airport and find some modes of transportation to St. Louis.

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This is horribly unfortunate. The teams who will be flying into St. Louis may have some serious troubles; however, I would be willing to bet that the Airlines or airport will make concessions. The last thing they want to do is to upset their passengers, especially on such a large scale, and at such short notice.

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We're taking a bus, but unless the damage is less than what it looks like in some of the pictures I'm looking at, I doubt folk's flights will go according to schedule.

There's no chance they'll reschedule competition, but perhaps the airlines could sort out some sort of flight to the nearest airport and bus?

I'm curious to see what happens...

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We are coming down on a bus, but I feel bad for the teams (and family members of our team) that have to sort this out. Hopefully the airlines can work out running flights to nearby airports and running buses into St Louis. I haven't seen many pictures so I can't guess whether they will have it cleaned up by Tuesday/Wednesday.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Im no expert, but based on the pictures linked the damage looks fairly superficial. My guess is it gets cleaned up, windows get boarded over, or replaced, and everything is fine by Tuesday/Wednesday.

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This is probably the most likely result. They're showing newsworthy photos, of course, but nothing much else. Probably most of the damage to the airport/passengers was immediate, large companies generally find ways to calmly proceed with business after events like this.

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Just Mother Nature's way of reminding us that this year's event may not be entirely different than Atlanta after all???

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I hope you're right, we fly tomorow!!!

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There's been alot of very severe weather around the St. Louis area the last few weeks including alot of storms that have produced killer tornadoes elsewhere and they are in the heart of tornado alley unlike Atlanta which was a once under a blue moon event. Tornadoes are just part of life in the Midwest unfortunately.

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Unfortunately, Lambert Airport was not the only area that was affected. I haven't
been up to see what is open yet, but our team was supposed to have a meeting Saturday morning at 9 am. However, I am watching news reports about shelters being set up in North County where several teams are located. I know that everyone in St. Louis is already working to clean up the airport so that we can have a great championship, but please also remember that their own lives are impacted as well and keep them in your prayers.

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From the look of the weatehr forcast it's going to be stormy leading up to but not during the championship. Hopefully nothing too severe will occur.

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ABC news just reported that the airport is shutdown indefinitely. Worst damage was to the main terminal partial roof loss and most doors and windows blown out.

I'm sure they will work quickly to form contingency plans, but it will be interesting traveling in and out of St. Louis for the next few days.

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Looks like some people arn't resting over this weekend. http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011...eard-news.html

Good Morning Teams,

We're monitoring the situation in St. Louis and will keep you informed if we find it necessary to make any alterations to the Championship plans. Our hearts go out to the residents of St Louis. We are currently checking in with staff and contractors and are not aware of any injuries to the FIRST personnel already in the area.

4 days to Championship,
See you then!

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Airport news brief is scheduled for 11am eastern time on CNN. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Saint Louis.

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Even if they clean up the airport and open it up for arrivals, flights are still going to be backed up a lot... practice matches may be a little empty.

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For people who shipped their robots. I heard that all the crated robots are stored in a warehouse down their somewhere. Does anyone know where this warehouse is and what its state is?:confused:

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I'm concerned about this myself. Does anyone have any information?

-Nick

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The warehouse is at

8500 N Hall Street
St Louis, MO 63147

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

If you could, post how your trip went to give us an idea of what to expect

Sometimes is it easy to lose sight of what is really important here. I hope that all is well is St. Louis and the surrounding area. And if you hear an update from teams in the area as well, let us know.

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Although all of us have concerns about how the second half of this week is going to go for us, St. Louis is still reeling with the immediate aspects of this disaster to their city. Please keep them in mind as they deal with their losses.

Amazingly, the St. Louis Mayor just announced that their goal is to get airport back to 70% capacity by tomorrow, and 100% capacity by midweek - assuming they get power back today. The Airport Director also said the airfield is now already back to fully functional level.

As Bill gave us an indication this morning, the FIRST leadership is working furiously to get information and will pass it on to us as soon as they know.

I know its hard - but just stand by for the facts as they become available.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Underscoring that - http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http....story&h=fb607

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I did call my airline, and as of now there are no delays, and my flight is supposed to depart and arrive on schedule. I am cautiously optimistic that this will continue to be the case.

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As guests in the city, we should make an effort to do some fundraising for the folks affected by the storm. Any ideas out there?

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I just spoke with Frank at 931. He confirmed that the address above is the freight depot where the robots are held, and said he had not seen any news reports of storm damage in that part of St. Louis. So hopefully the robots are ok. :)

He is checking with team members in various parts of the St. Louis metro area, and I hope all the people are ok, too. My thoughts and prayers are with many St. Louis area friends today. I hope to be seeing all of you safe and healthy in a few days.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

What airline are you flying in on? If we compile a list of airlines that are tentivley on schedule we could probably save several different groups of people a good deal of time and effort.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

I am riding on a Delta flight

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I know Airline folks: The latest word (as of last night) has been said: The airport is closed until further notice.

The other thing they said is that the airlines might fly passengers as close as they can to STL and bus them in, but thats all speculation. If any teams are driving and know that a team relatively close to them plans on flying- see what you can do to help. Carpooling or just taking some of their items with you will make it easier for everyone involved.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Spend money on taxable purchases in the local economy - Every dollar you spend creates direct and indirect jobs, and direct and indirect tax revenue.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

We'll do that anyway.....I was thinking of something that would make a statement from all of us FIRSTers

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According to Bill's Blog, robots and field supplies are unharmed. That's good news.

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The latest word is the the airport will reopen on Sunday. But nothing is certain.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

http://www.necn.com/04/23/11/St-Loui...08&feedID=4207

The Mayor of St. Louis hopes to get the airport up to 70% capacity by Sunday, and full capacity by midweek.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Everything is ok, according to Bill's blog.

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No damage to any robot, according to Bill's blog

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Does anyone know if they are gonna do drastic delays on Tuesday?
We are flying from sunny Arizona and we wish not to be behind schedule. :]
Also watch out for thunder storms on that day!!

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As a long-time Florida resident, we are familiar with this type of damage from hurricanes, but the major difference is the warning. We normally get days of warning and can prepare, move inland, evacuate, stock up on supplies, etc. Tornadoes concentrate their power and strike with little to no warning. I used to live close to St. Louis, in Michigan, and in Alabama where tornadoes are more prevalent than FL and remember rushing to the basement to take shelter. My heart goes out to all those affected by last nights storm. I am confident that the FIRST teams, mentor, alumni, and volunteers that reside close to the storm-damaged areas will be among the people volunteering to assist those in need.

I was in Orlando when hurricane Charley came through and was without power for a week. But my family, home and belongings were intact. I remember one of the things that annoyed me the most was the business people from out of town and the tourists complaining about small inconveniences when there were those of us without the basics - fresh food, milk, refrigeration, ice, not to mention that Orlando in August without air conditioning is stifling. So, if you are traveling to St. Louis this week and are a little inconvenienced during your travels and stay, please remember to put it in perspective.

Sarah

p.s. Did you know that in Florida we don't have basements?

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The airport will tentatively be open later tonight with more flights tomorrow, but a lot seems be dependent on whether they get power back. I can't see there being too many problems by Tuesday unless you're flying on an airline that is located in Concourse C (AirTran, American, Frontier).

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

From the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport website:

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Just heard airport will re-open to 70% capacity by tomorrow and 100% capacity by "mid-week". This is good news. Here's hoping there is minimal impact to all you robotics teams out there!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Sure you do, they're called "indoor swimming pools".:rolleyes:

My advice to everyone is to not panic until the day before your flight.
Also, airports don't necessarily need gates to load and unload passengers. A bus to a plane on the tarmac, along with 'air stairs' can service most aircraft well. SOP in Europe, certainly a part of contingency plans in STL.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Here's a thread regarding the updates: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=94772

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

IMPORTANT UPDATE:



I live in STL, and Fox 2 News just said that the airport should be open by tomorrow.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Jon, you could borrow the piggy bank idea from 1902. Sarah Plemmons has made a wise post in this thread showing similar concern for the St. Louis community and those affected. You could contact her or Wendy Austin and they could tell you how they set that up. If I remember correctly, they put that fundraiser together very quickly.

Thank you for thinking outside your team and into the host community - it is very gracious of you to do so.

Jane

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

This is an excellent idea! It seems people on here are more worried about their robot being ok than they are the people that went through this storm. I understand that everyone has spent a lot of time and money on their perspective robot, but these people lost their homes and everything they have.

Just please keep these people in St. Louis, Japan, and wherever else there are problems occurring in your heart.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Jane, this a great idea! Maybe four little pigs¹ could represent the four FRC divisions?

Division emcees/game annonucers might encourage a little friendly fund raising competition?

-------------
¹ named Archy, Maddie, Gal, and Newt?

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

I just watched the latest press conference from STL online. Here's the latest from the Mayor and the Airport Director.
From the Mayor: This was the most serious tornado to hit St. Louis since 1967 (rated an EF-4). No deaths or no serious injuries.
From the Airport Director: The airport is still closed now, however there will be a couple of flights arriving tonight (Saturday). They hope power will be restored in the next 2-3 hours. On Sunday they will open, but expect to be at 70% capacity. This also depends on whether the airlines can get planes to STL. Planes going to the damaged concourse C (American, Airtran, Frontier, and Cape Air) will be housed in another concourse for now until they can get Concourse C repaired (it's got a lot of damage - windows, roof, water damage, etc.). Terminal 2 is fully functional (Southwest). Monday should be back to complete operations with some changes to gates.

Finally, let's also hear it for current Technology Heroes! This is one reason why I'm involved with FIRST. The St. Louis tornado was rated as an EF-4 and the citizens had a 34 minute warning. That amount of time is unheard of prior to all of the advances in meteorological tools available today. Hats off to the citizens of STL for following the instructions and taking shelter. Zero deaths and zero serious injuries.

Regardless, everyone have safe travels to St. Louis. Come see us on the Franklin Division fields for FTC.

Go FIRST!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Permissions would probably need to be obtained...

Jane

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Piggy bank packed.

Sarah

Oink, Oink...

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Does anyone know about the safety or emergency plans in place at the Dome? I'm guessing my parents aren't the only ones who are worried about what would happen if another tornado should hit. I.e, is there likely to be a basement or other safe area nearby?

Right now the weather forecast is looking pretty decent, but I know that can change at any time....

Thanks!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

Oh my, good luck to all the teams flying

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BOOM!


:D

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Reading your thoughts about the people of St. Louis reinforces for us what we know FIRST is really about. My husband is a letter carrier in Maryland Heights. He came home just apalled at what had happened to the neighborhood he has delivered to for years. And some of the others were much worse, having been completely leveled.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

As of 7am Eastern time this morning, Sunday, American Airlines reports that they have not cancelled flights YET for Monday or Tuesday. The reservations person suggested calling back later in the day for an update.

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Archy, Maddie, Leo, and Newt

Why not let FLL and FTC in on the fund raising? We could add Bodies Forward as we Get Over it in Logo Motion.

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It is a large public area so they will have a safe area for guests. I do not know what they are but I'm sure that all FIRST personnel will be briefed on them and if you ask they will be glad to explain them too you.

This is what came off of the St. Louis Rams website "Edward Jones Dome Guest Service Hosts are trained to handle evacuation procedures. During pre-game, a video will be shown on the scoreboard detailing the evacuation procedure. Should an evacuation become necessary, please make sure you are aware of the exits nearest your seat and be prepared to follow the instructions of the Guest Service Hosts." I pulled that one because on America's Center and Edward Jone's websites they do not have it listed.

From my experience (I live in tornado alley, my town was decimated by a tornado in 2003) if you hear the sirens, get to the lowest, least surrounded by windows area (volunteers should be directing teams and guests to the proper tornado shelter). My guess is it will be a conference room or possibly locker rooms or a large concrete hallway.

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Alright GForce says Franklin is in on this!

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And now for some good news!

It looks like they are meeting their goal... STL seems to be flowing again... (other than AA, which announced no flights for today)

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lol @ ewr getting just a 1 star on time rating. frankly, im surprised newark got any stars for on-timeness. its gotten much better in the past couple of years, but its still pretty horrific as to getting planes out on time.

st. louis seems to be meeting their 70% capacity goal, so hopefully they will reach 100% capacity by the middle of this week..

good luck to everyone traveling! stay safe

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

I don't know specifics for the Edward Jones dome, but the venue is required by law to have emergency procedures in place and must have staff on hand who are trained in these procedures.

Typically in venues such as this, people will be herded into bathrooms, locker rooms, and other such sheltered areas. I was in a football stadium last summer when a huge storm struck, and we were all moved into the bathrooms.

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

This has nothing to do with safety procedures, but the FIRSTweets twitter account has provided an update:

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

News from @flystl from the last 4 hours:

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Looking at the forecast for the drive in on Monday and Tuesday they are going to be strong storms both days all the way there. Fun for all!

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Seems like things are looking good for us. Bad weather on Monday for anyone going early but it should only be rain when we get there Wednesday.

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If you haven't been to St Louis (or anywhere in the midwest for that matter) be ready for the weather to change on a dime. I remember growing up in St Louis and having it go from the 80s to the low 50s in the same day.

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Airline update. Keep an eye open since airlines are still trying to get back up to full service. Continental (now United) is back to full schedule today.

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Made it to St. Louis. Flight even landed early! SWA lands at Terminal 2 and you wouldn't know they had a storm Friday night. But, when you ride the shuttle past Terminal 1 you see all the boarded up windows, the big airport signs are down, the traffic signals aren't working, and the flag pole is a little askew. As you drive west on I-70, the damage can't be missed. Be sure to check with your carrier for their status.

Sarah

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

My aunt lives out there and last year there was a sudden snow storm right before she went into labor. It was perfectly fine before then, albeit very cold! Yeah, I predict bad weather while we're there.

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We made it here as well!

St. Louis is doing a GREAT job at cleaning up the city and welcoming FIRSTers at the same time.

We flew in United and there were no issues, there were even empty seats on our flight from SF to STL!!!

Re: St. Louis airport just hit by tornado
 

I Flew in Yesterday afternoon from Philadelphia.

There were no delays, in fact we were 10 minutes early on Southwest who is the major carrier here. Everything is fine, the Metro, Airport, no troubles at all.

One terminal is damaged, which is where American and other carriers use, so those airlines with limited flights may be impacted, canceled, or delayed.

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just to let everyone know so they don't worry or haven't already checked, that airport is functioning again. http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/