Eric Whitehill
EF1
I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but yesterday the Nashville Predators NHL Hockey team were playing a home game against the Carolina Hurricanes. During the game, a Tornado warning was issued, and approximately 14,000 fans were in the Sommet Center.
From NHL.com:
Late in the third period of Nashville's 1-0 victory over Carolina on Tuesday night, announcements were made at the Sommet Center that downtown Nashville was under a tornado warning. Fans were told to stay in the arena until given permission to leave.
After the final buzzer, it was again announced that no one would leave the arena until there was news that the weather threat had passed. The fans were evacuated from the main seating area after the game, and allowed to leave the arena shortly after.
Fans and players could hear the thunder and the warning sirens.
"One of the referees came over with nine minutes to go and said we might have to evacuate because of the weather," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "At that time, it was still 0-0 and some of the guys on the bench thought maybe each team would be given a point and we would go right to the shootout.
The question is, what do large event centers, such as the Sommet Center, and other large events do to handle severe weather events? For example, if a tornado were to strike in Downtown St. Paul near the Xcel Energy Center, for those of you who have been to the "X", almost the entire west and southwest side of the building is all glass. If the arena were to be hit by strong enough winds, break the glass, the roof would have to go somewhere, and it would come crashing down. Well, I can tell you 18,568 fans (the average attendance at a MN Wild game) would not fit into the lower concourse.
While yes, I am focused in on hockey, this is only because it recently affected a game. What happens at, for example, baseball stadiums, etc? You can't exactly stick 60,000+ people at a NFL game under some sort of cover at an open-air stadium?
For those of you in emergency management, this brings up a good point - where do you stick that number of people to keep them safe in the event of a severe weather event?
From NHL.com:
Late in the third period of Nashville's 1-0 victory over Carolina on Tuesday night, announcements were made at the Sommet Center that downtown Nashville was under a tornado warning. Fans were told to stay in the arena until given permission to leave.
After the final buzzer, it was again announced that no one would leave the arena until there was news that the weather threat had passed. The fans were evacuated from the main seating area after the game, and allowed to leave the arena shortly after.
Fans and players could hear the thunder and the warning sirens.
"One of the referees came over with nine minutes to go and said we might have to evacuate because of the weather," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "At that time, it was still 0-0 and some of the guys on the bench thought maybe each team would be given a point and we would go right to the shootout.
The question is, what do large event centers, such as the Sommet Center, and other large events do to handle severe weather events? For example, if a tornado were to strike in Downtown St. Paul near the Xcel Energy Center, for those of you who have been to the "X", almost the entire west and southwest side of the building is all glass. If the arena were to be hit by strong enough winds, break the glass, the roof would have to go somewhere, and it would come crashing down. Well, I can tell you 18,568 fans (the average attendance at a MN Wild game) would not fit into the lower concourse.
While yes, I am focused in on hockey, this is only because it recently affected a game. What happens at, for example, baseball stadiums, etc? You can't exactly stick 60,000+ people at a NFL game under some sort of cover at an open-air stadium?
For those of you in emergency management, this brings up a good point - where do you stick that number of people to keep them safe in the event of a severe weather event?
