St. Louis airport just hit by tornado

[BuzzDonelan]

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.

[rabridges]

Originally Posted by 1502fundraising

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?

Everything is ok, according to Bill's blog.

[rabridges]

Originally Posted by Nick Lawrence

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

-Nick

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

[thenomnivore]

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!!

[Sayrah]

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?

[1986titans]

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).

[kjohnson]

From the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport website:

BREAKING NEWS
Saturday 4/23/11 1:30 P.M. Storm Recovery Update

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport remains closed through the early evening hours of Saturday, April 22.

Some airlines may resume some flights into Lambert later into the evening. Please call your airline to find out the latest flight information.

If power is restored to the Airport complex, more flights anticipated for Easter Sunday.

Stay tuned to local media for further updates on the situation at Lambert or follow us on twitter @flystl.

[Banderoonies]

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!

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Sayrah

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

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

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.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Banderoonies

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!

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

[Graciebot]

IMPORTANT UPDATE:



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

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Jon236

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?

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

[Cyberphil]

Originally Posted by Jon236

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?

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.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Jon236

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?

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Jon, you could borrow the piggy bank idea from 1902.

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?

[emmell]

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!