Strong Winds causes the Roof to Collapse at Dallas Cowboys Indoor Practice Facility

mikegeukes

EF5
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I live about 3/4 mile away from this practice facility and was at home when the storm occurred. At about 3:30pm local, I observed very strong winds from the north (I live south of the facility) with extremely heavy rain. Thunderstorm conditions had been occurring for about 10 minutes already. The winds then became so strong that I thought to myself at the time that it had to be a significant downburst. Large tree limbs in my neighborhood began coming down. I estimated the winds to be about 65-80mph. A few minutes later.. the sirens from emergency vehicles started.. and continued non-stop for about 45 minutes as more and more help arrived.
 
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That image is interesting, but it appears to be a reflection, or at least part of the image is a reflection - and off of a flexible reflector of some sort. Look at the distortion in things that should be straight. That makes it hard to assess the darker "Hershey's Kiss" part of the image. Is it also seen in the reflected image, or is it simply an area of darkness caused by the flexure of whatever is reflecting the other outside imagery? Hard to tell. Did he have some sort of audio commentary that accompanied his report (what he saw as it relates to this image) or did he simply discover it when reviewing video he shot?

Also, microbursts are normally accompanied by a sudden upswing in temperature. Was there such an upswing?
 
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I was an eyewitness to this event. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. It was a classic downburst, and a strong one at that. The photo is immaterial to this simple fact.

FWIW, The Weather Channel has adopted the photo. Dr. Forbes has a video presentation that uses it.
 
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From what I have read, there will be an investigation by the feds, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health) into the incident - which could take up to 6 months to complete.

Since it was obviously weather related, it may bring up some interesting and even novel regulatory questions. It never even crossed my mind that structural safety in a severe weather event would come under the purview of OSHA, but evidently it does.

It could raise a whole host of questions re: the obligation of employers to provide safe shelter to employees in the case of severe weather. Will the investigation be limited in scope to the structure's builder adherence to relevant construction codes, or could it be widened to a much broader scope? Many scenarios come to mind - from soccer referees, to contractor employees working out in the open, to bartenders serving drinks in outdoor "tent" events.

OSHA isn't an agency that makes everyday headline news, but it does have quite a bit of regulatory power under federal law. This is certainly a unique case, and it will be interesting to see how far-ranging the impacts of the investigation will be.
 
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Was no one at the practice field aware there was severe weather? Should they have even been in the facility in the first place. It always seems to me (whether it is the case here or not) that many were caught by the fact that no one paid attention to the warnings and watches that allowed them to prepare and act accordingly. I am making an assumption to some degree, but it is the first question that came to my mind when hearing of the event.
 
You mean the Cowboys actually have a practice facility. Hmm...who would have thought!
 
Connor McCrorey said:
Jason, NOT COOL!!! :mad:
Click to expand...

Now that I think about it, you're right. I was making a joke in light of a bad situation, and for that, I apologize. It's sad that someone had to get hurt.

I'm a Cowboy hater, but I still hated to hear about that guy getting paralyzed. It's a terrible thing.
 
A human Disaster

Headline in the Dallas Morning News short edition reads: "Engineer says he had little to do with building". It goes on to say that he worked for the builder only briefly and was hired to design "small farm buildings".

He was also listed as the engineer who oversaw construction of a large warehouse in Philadelphia that collapsed in a snowstorm less than two months after opening.

The Cowboy team never had the structure inspected upon completion.

The contractor's office had "little to do with building the facility" and the listed civil engineers said they "played no role at all" with it's construction.
 
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