Sometimes I think I'm bigger than the sound ([info]jen_tel) wrote in [info]falconridge,
@ 2008-07-27 23:23:00
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Current location:on the road home
Current mood: exhausted
Current music:Queens of the Stone Age, "I Never Came"

Where were you?
I'm curious about where people were when the big storm struck on Sunday afternoon and what you did afterwards?

Personally, I was sitting on a tarp at mainstage during the first downpour no problem, but then, during the Tracy set I noticed how black the sky was getting, so I headed up to my parent's canopy. We were fine in there at first, but as the wind and rain picked up, we were suddenly in a battle to hold the structure down so it wouldn't blow away. We gripped the aluminum poles with our rain ponchos (as lightning crackled around us) and felt the pinging of the huge hail stones as they started to fall. It was a truly scary moment. After what felt like an eternity, the rain and wind finally let up and we started collecting our stuff to haul ass to our collective cars to wait it out. It was at that point that people coming up the hill were saying that another storm was on it's way worse than the previous one, there was a tornado warning, and security cancelled the rest of the festival and told everyone to head for some kind of solid cover. At that point we abandoned all hope and our tarp and high-tailed it to their car where we passed the raging river under the pedestrian bridge which had been a mere stream that morning and sat through the second round of rain before that let up and I escaped to my car. What a horrific ending to an otherwise awesome weekend. Hope everyone made it out alright!



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[info]mycroft
2008-07-28 03:52 am UTC (link)
I was under the Common Ground tent. One of their tarps fell almost immediately, causing the wind to blow in and try very hard to collapse the tent. I spent a while (not sure exactly how long) getting pelted with rain and hail while leaning against one of the tent poles. The oilskin rain coat I bought from the Australian guy got more of a test than I had planned.

Then I wandered over to the hammock vendor, found that he was in bad shape, and helped him out a bit.

My tent was in bad shape when I got back to it. It was mangled in a way that really looked like something big (possibly a vehicle) whacked it. Fortunately nothing but the tent itself was damaged.

BTW, if anyone reading this found a Nada Chair (strap thing that supports your back with straps that hook over your knees), I would *really* like it back.

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[info]ckocher
2008-07-28 04:33 am UTC (link)
We left Saturday night after Gandalf's set on the dance stage. Was anyone hurt? When did they cancel the festival?

This was not a happy weather week - we arrived in the midst of all the rain Wednesday and ended up parked in the day parking field for two days and then had to have the RV towed out by the tractor. Not exactly what we had planned on for the week.

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(no subject) - [info]mycroft, 2008-07-28 04:48 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]photomonk2, 2008-07-28 05:05 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]jen_tel, 2008-07-28 04:06 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]mocksie, 2008-07-28 04:17 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]photomonk2, 2008-07-28 04:28 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]rekling, 2008-07-30 12:46 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]mycroft, 2008-07-28 08:38 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]boyhowdy25, 2008-07-30 11:26 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]hirileva_i_ulma, 2008-07-30 04:45 pm UTC

[info]photomonk2
2008-07-28 04:40 am UTC (link)
After the Gospel Wake Up, I felt the rain coming and wanted to get my tent packed up. So, I stashed gear backstage and went back to pack. Just got lightly rained upon. Successfully moved the car to Lower Camping only to find the middle exit (dubbed the Dan Navarro Memorial Pond since he got stuck in it on Wednesday) closed. I parked to find I was near Joanne and visited with her until the Rains Crashed Down, her canopy collapsed and we hightailed it into our cars. Once it settled, I went to collect my soggy (but overall OK) gear and went home. Funnily, the back pack which was left OUTSIDE but under a basic poncho come through completely dry while the camera gear got soggy in some flooding under mainstage. Go figure.

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[info]saxbabe
2008-07-28 05:14 am UTC (link)
Hmm, I was originally upset I had to leave before everything started today due to the long drive back to maryland, but now I'm not so sad! While I feel I did miss several good shows/workshops, I might not have enjoyed them after all! Let's hope for better weather next year :)

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[info]hope_persists
2008-07-28 12:33 pm UTC (link)
I was waiting at the workshop stage right before the rain, and my mom and I decided to head under the dance tent just to be safe. in the dance tent, they were playing and dancing right up until the power was cut. then they started to warn us NOT to touch the poles, and that if the tent started swaying to leave immediately because it might fall down. finally they told us just to leave and run for our cars. we left our chairs behind and one of our blankets and just got the fuck out.

i didnt know about 22 being closed, so i ended up lost in the berkshires in the rain for about an hour. that sucked, but I finally found my way home.

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(no subject) - [info]shakenbysound, 2008-07-28 02:28 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]jkpolk, 2008-07-30 01:59 am UTC

[info]amberez
2008-07-28 12:57 pm UTC (link)
I was at the family stage when the storm hit. That tent didn't collapse, thank goodness, but a bunch of us were holding the back part of it down to keep it from flying away with all the wind. After the storm died down, they told everyone to just get out of the tent, and my friends and I made a beeline to the car and went home.

Didn't realize 22 was closed either.. we took quite the detour getting home. At least the weather was good Friday and Saturday!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]photomonk2, 2008-07-28 04:29 pm UTC

[info]shakenbysound
2008-07-28 02:44 pm UTC (link)
We had camped near the showers (Camp Stupid Americans), and I had left my car on the opposite side of the fence and carried my things into camp on Thursday. It ended up being a very lucky thing. On Sunday I went to the Wake Up Call, then packed up camp and put basically everything into the car. I was watching Tracey Grammer's set when the rain started. There was quite a lightening storm going on behind and around us during her set. After Jim finished "1952 Vincent Black Lightening" the rain started and they called a "Time Out". I threw my chair under my tarp and ran to the merch tent (thank god I didn't run into the food tent). I helped hold onto the tent sides to keep the rain out. One side of the tent roof (facing north) was starting to sink down with water, so lots of people on that side were holding up the ceiling with their arms/umbrellas. At some point everyone started singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore". That was a real FRFF moment. The rain started to die down (I hadn't even realized there was hail), so I ran out to the "Acoustic Live" booth, where I knew my friends were performing/listening. The food tent had collapsed, and was quite a sight. My friends had apparently saved the A.L. tent from collapsing as well. Once things got a little more settled my friend Phil Henry played a 3 song set. Then we waited a little longer until a security guy came and nicely told us that they were telling everyone to get into their cars because a bigger storm was still coming. I went, finished packing my car, said goodbye to my friends, and went out to my car, which was still parked on the other side of the fence. My friends, who had brought their cars into camp, were stuck in a dilemma because a river had developed between our camp and the side exit (as a note, yes, this was an illegal exit/parking area that had developed over the weekend). I was able to get out pretty easily, although I was worried as several cars/vans were stuck in mud and needed to be pushed out. I went a different way and avoided that. Because of the direction I was facing I was forced into turning right and taking 23, which I guess was another blessing in disguise as 22 was apparently closed.

Also, as we were walking back to camp, I saw Josiah and told him I had been looking forward to the Slambovian's set all weekend. He said he would "owe me" a concert. :-)

So, did this second storm that they warned us about ever pass through? I'm assuming all the other acts were cancelled after Tracey?

Edited at 2008-07-28 02:47 pm UTC

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(no subject) - [info]cos, 2008-07-28 09:48 pm UTC

[info]fumblerette1
2008-07-28 02:45 pm UTC (link)
Wow. Looks like my friends and I made a good call. We got everything packed up in the morning with one exception. We watched the Wake Up Call, went up and finished packing the last thing, and brought down the cars. We planned to grab a bite to eat, watch tracy's set, and then go, but as soon as we parked the cars, literally the very minute we opened the doors, it started raining. I checked the weather report on my iphone, and saw about 5 different weather advisories, and we sadly decided to skip tracy and head on home. Looks like it was the right decision after all.

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(no subject) - [info]cos, 2008-07-28 09:46 pm UTC
A scary finale
(Anonymous)
2008-07-28 03:02 pm UTC (link)
I had retreated to the dining tent. It was packed with people as the storm walloped us. We struggled to brace the tent posts. The woman next to me was getting stung by hail stones; they were flying like buckshot.

At first, people inside were urging calm. But as the canvas started coming unhinged, a FR volunteer shouted: "Get out! Everybody! NOW!!"

Then the tent collapsed. Miraculously, everyone escaped unharmed. At least, that's what volunteers said.

Many of us then crammed into the First Aid tent. As the lights flickered out, people started singing "Row Your Boat." It was surreal. It reminded me of that show--"Deadliest Catch?"--that depicts fishing boats getting pummeled by angry seas every week. Maybe we should have sung "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"!

The claustrophobia was too much, so I made a muddy dash for my car, slogging past pulverized official tents. My car barely made it out of the parking lot; I hung a right on Rt. 22 and reached the southbound Taconic. There were lots of crashes and detours, but it could have been worse.

My only knock against FR is they should have given everyone more warning to seek cover.

On Saturday night they told us rain showers were likely within 15 minutes.

But on Sunday a very nervous Tracy bravely continued singing with Jim (the show must go on, right?) as thunder boomed around them and lightning danced on the ridge.

Someone should have been monitoring local weather reports, and cleared the hillside sooner. It's lucky that nobody was struck by lightning. Has anyone heard otherwise?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: A scary finale - (Anonymous), 2008-07-28 05:56 pm UTC
Re: A scary finale - [info]speakupbcuz, 2008-07-31 10:55 pm UTC
Re: A scary finale - [info]fyregoddess875, 2008-08-01 02:47 pm UTC

[info]somechicksings
2008-07-28 07:19 pm UTC (link)
we left on Friday evening due to sickness and lack of mobility in the mud... i was very sad then, but i guess it wasn't such a bad thing.

i really hope no one was hurt; it's scary hearing about all these collapses & near-misses!

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Family tent
[info]cristovau
2008-07-28 07:36 pm UTC (link)
We were in the family tent watching Robbie Schaefer's kid show. The rain began to fall and there was some lightning and he made some jokes about God participating in a call and response, then began a new song called "Water." I was near the door when the wind kicked in and did my best to hold the whipping wall down to keep it from spraying others.

Then the wind picked up the roof and the wall pole near me came out of place. We shoved it back in and began holding the roof on with hands and a panic-fueled determination. Kids began crying. The wind really began taking off. Every tent pole had one or two people on it. Some of the lighter people were lifted off the ground. It got pretty scary. The ground outside was a big puddle. I gave up on being at all dry.

To our credit, the tent did survive when similar tents collapsed. When a messenger came saying a second storm cell was expected and we should abandon, I made sure the tent wall was lifted so everyone could get out and then collected my family together to hit the hill and get out.

On our way out, we were halted by one of the first aid volunteers who said we were not going to make it up the hill before the second cell hit and herded us into the first aid tent. That was good, as I did want to help out if needed, and what better place to do that.

We weathered the much milder second cell in the first aid tent and then I did a quick walkabout to see how the roads were, if people were allowed to leave and what had happened to our tents. While examining the road, a lot of stuck motorists asked me basic questions like, "Will they continue the music?" and "Are we going to get out today?" I gave my best guesses, no and yes.

Things were not that bad after the first big blast. We left maybe an hour later after helping some folks on the hill out of the mud and cleaning up a bit. Once the wind died, it was fine.

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[info]songfta
2008-07-28 07:56 pm UTC (link)
I was not on-site when the weather arrived. Rather, I'd been riding in the Harlem Valley Rail Ride while my partner and friends remained at the Fest. I'd finished riding before the storms set in, but when they did, they packed the same wallop to the hundreds of cyclists still on the road. There were many crashes (including one car-cyclist accident due to the blinding rain obscuring the driver's vision - no serious injury, thankfully). I called my partner, who told me to hang at the ride and while my time. I ended up shuttling injured riders back to the ride start from the rest stop in Copake Falls, at the base of Rte. 344/Bash Bish Road: many had crashed on the descent due to the wet roads. I shuttled some of the most seriously injured, as the ride organizers had inadequate vans to pick up all the stranded and injured riders.

When I returned to Dodds Farm (via back roads due to the closure of Rte. 22), many camps had been dismantled. My partner and our friends had managed to load all the camp stuff into the friends' Subaru and get it down the hill.

Again, the Fest's directors misjudged certain things. The torrential rains before the fest should've kicked a declaration of "no big trailers or RVs" in the Lower and Upper Pasture areas into effect. That's the only big gripe, though, as they did a good job with what they had.

And did anybody follow the saga of the Fest volunteer who was stealing from various camps? He'd been hiding the stolen loot in the Subaru that was crashed next to the shower facilities. I was there when Fest security nabbed the volunteer and had him arrested by the county sheriff. Apparently, the guy had never shown up for a shift after initial check-in, and had been pilfering alcohol and bags from various camps around the flats. It was nuts, but the Fest staff managed to get the stolen goods back to their rightful owners.

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(no subject) - [info]shakenbysound, 2008-07-28 08:18 pm UTC

[info]catamethyst
2008-07-28 08:54 pm UTC (link)
I stayed at Tracy Grammer's set in the thunderstorm until we were told to go find shelter. We started hiking up the hill to my tent/car and made it about a third of the way up the hill before the huge chunks of hail started pelting down full blast. I now understand why they are called hailstones. Partway through 10 Acre camping, some nice women told us to take cover under their tent/pavilion, so we ducked in and helped them keep it upright. Once the hail stopped and the rain died down a little, we dashed the rest of the way to the car and decided to call it a day. Miraculously, our tent was still standing, and the little 2-wheel drive car did fine getting out of the pasture and down the hill (though traffic didn't move at all for about a half an hour). I also really appreciated that at that point, they already knew that 22N was closed and were directing everyone to 22S: without warning, I would have taken 22N and gotten either stuck or lost, but as it was, I took 23 to the Taconic to 90. So ultimately, it worked out remarkably fine.

More advance warning would have been ideal, of course, but I understand that it's difficult to spread the word to thousands of people quickly, and it's also potentially difficult to tell how bad these things will be until they have almost hit...

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all 'round the site
[info]cos
2008-07-28 09:12 pm UTC (link)
I was at the workshop tent, at a great spot right up front, waiting for Red Molly & the Strangelings to get started. They were all set up, but the guy running the stage said we were waiting to see if it was safe - we could all see lightning behind us. So we waited about ten minutes as the clouds moved quickly and the lightning continued, and he suggested we might want to go somewhere safe if we didn't feel comfortable about the lightning, but we sat there because we didn't think it was particularly dangerous. then suddenly the rain crashed down, they put down the workshop stage flaps, and said "we're done", so I got up.

It was such a heavy rainfall, I decided to go to the car to see if [info]silentmachine might go there to find me. As I was almost past the vendor area, I saw some vendor structures start to go down, and something hit me in the shoulder. I was confused for a moment and then ... bop bop bop ... I was being pelted with hail!

The big food tent was right in front of me, full of people, so I ran over there and ducked under, but it was starting to fall, so I grabbed hold of a pole. There was another person holding that pole, and 2-3 people on every other pole, and more holding down the edges of the roof cover. We held for... it felt like 10 minutes, maybe more, just barely keeping it there, until someone called "everybody out" in a voice of authority, so we abandoned it and it fell.

I went the rest of the way to the front ticket sales booth, where I could see my car and see that she wasn't there, but the big tent there was holding up so I waited it out there. Two of my campmates went by - they'd had a much more harrowing time.

They told me they saw two more of us at the dance tent shortly before the storm, so when the storm let up somewhat, I went there... and found the band in the middle of the stage, playing a waltz off-mic :) [info]silentmachine found me there. After a couple more tunes, someone from security came in and said we should all go to our cars or the barn, so the dance tent emptied, and we went to my car to wait out the rest of the storm and try calling people (the car had our cell phones and chargers).

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[info]psapph0
2008-07-28 09:25 pm UTC (link)
After a group of teenagers w/o wristbands snuck into the Upper Pasture behind our tent on Saturday night and began an all night drinking/smoking/screaming fest (we reported it to security, but to no avail. They just sort of shrugged and said that these things happen on Saturday nights) my partner and I decided to cut out early on Sunday. By the time the storms hit we were clean, showered and napping at home. I remember waking up to enormous cracks of thunder (about an hour and a half south of FR) and wondering how those at the festival were faring. Later that evening we caught a local Dar Williams concert that had to be relocated to inside a Catholic Church b/c of the rain (gotta love hearing The Christians and the Pagans sung as the priest stands nearby shaking his head).

Glad that everyone was ok- sounds like those who stayed had quite the harrowing adventure!

Easy communication suggestions...Perhaps a warning from all 4 stages simultaneously, along with direction to the audience to head up the hill and back to campsites spreading the word? A bull horn on the ice truck?

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(no subject) - [info]photomonk2, 2008-07-28 10:13 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]psapph0, 2008-07-29 11:29 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]songfta, 2008-07-29 07:43 am UTC
In access tent
[info]marklsmith
2008-07-29 12:44 am UTC (link)
I was in the access tent next to the main stage. Everything was fine until the grape size hail and horizontal winds. The access stage has no side flaps, so they decided to herd us into medical tent. Since we got soaked in the journey of ten feet, the medical team said, "Blankets for the senior citizens!" These were appreciated although I later gave it to someone even more soaked than us. The medical team and access volunteers did a good job of holding down the medical tent. The down side was that there was six inches of water on the ground with nowhere to go. There was a second threatened thunder cell but it didn't hit full on and about 45 minutes later the rain stopped. We opted to run (or rather slog) for the car with the help of two volunteers. They opened the bridge for us as the water was now running under the bridge rather than OVER it which it had been doing at the peak of the rain. It only took about five minutes to get out of the parking lot but was being directed southbound only.

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Acoustic Live refuge
[info]inflatableshark
2008-07-29 02:01 am UTC (link)
I was wondering whether I'd find a "where were you when the storm hit" posting, and you guys didn't disappoint!

The biggest thing I can say is "thank god it hit on Sunday afternoon." Almost everyone packs up Sunday morning. I know, not everyone, but the majority of attendees do, and I think that there would have been a lot more damage to tents, screenhouses, etc (and not to mention, a lot more injuries!) if all those tents were still up.

I was at Tracy's set on Sunday when it was thundering, and you guys are right, she was very nervous, rightfully so! Then I went to Acoustic Live because Phil was playing in a few minutes, and I thought I'd rather be there then at mainstage if a big storm hit! Plus I am Phil's biggest fan, of course. Our friend Jeff has this technological thing that he watches the weather on, I think it is called a Trio, and it even has a doppler thing on it. He had said that a storm cell was headed in our direction in an L-shape and it was bright red. Anyway when I got to Acoustic Live it was raining and RJ Cowdery was playing. We were all under the ez up which had tarp walls like most of the vendors. When the main storm hit we all helped hold it together. Phil, Jeff, Carrie and others held onto the top of the frame, and I helped hold the sides shut. Phil was saying, "ow, my hands" when the hail was hitting his fingers. I yelled "IIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCEEEEE" and maybe got a few nervous grins at least. We were also holding guitars with minimal success at keeping them dry. There were around 12-15 people in there, I would guess. Maybe a little less. Then, Jeff Kimball began singing the Titanic song with many, many verses. There was a lot of laughing which helped a lot. Yet another falcon ridge moment!!!! There was little if any damage to the Acoustic Live booth that I could tell, except for some very wet newsletters. After the weather settled we helped drain the water from the roof and picked up a few things, and a few people left and a few others joined us. Then Phil did his set, with a very touching sing-along of "the winds of lake erie" which has two sing-along parts, one that says "it rained and rained for 40 days" and the other part says "rain, rain, go away." Then the security or site-crew guy came and said that another storm was coming and we should go to our vehicles. He then said, "I have had several questions from people, one about where the dance tent is and one about the schedule for the rest of the day. Those are not appropriate questions right now" or something like that. In a polite way, though. Then we walked back to our camp, which luckily we had packed up in the morning. I was worrying about how we'd get out of there, as we were in one of the lower aareas furthest from the road (Camp stupid americans, in lower camping just before the showers). And the water on the raod back to our site was knee deep in places.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: Acoustic Live refuge - [info]inflatableshark, 2008-07-29 02:02 am UTC
Re: Acoustic Live refuge - [info]inflatableshark, 2008-07-29 02:09 am UTC
Sheltered in Merch Tent
[info]fyregoddess875
2008-07-29 04:13 pm UTC (link)
I was in the Merch tent with a large number of other people. I have to say, I'm really impressed with how together almost everyone was - attendees and volunteers alike.

On the volunteer side, we did our best to get in touch with site crew to get the power cut (not as quickly as anyone would have liked, I think) and also to identify the major problem areas (read: electrical outlets). On the attendee side, people really jumped right in to help hold down the fort (literally!) and to push the water off the roof or to brace the poles that were coming out. Even before needs were publicly identified, people stepped right up to take care of problems before they became extremely serious.

All things considered, I think it went incredibly well and the communal effort was really heartening to see. Being in the Merch tent, I really had no idea what was going on outside until it was described to me later by my 14 year old son (who was stepping up in responsibility in his own way, taking care of his girlfriend and his 4 y/o cousin and getting them safe) and seeing the video that's posted to You Tube and making the rounds.

I hope this won't turn people off of the festival in the future, and will, instead, show people just how amazing the entire Falcon Ridge community can be when faced with great adversity.

Also, from all reports I have heard, there were NO MAJOR INJURIES, but a lot of cases of hypothermia.

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[info]gutter_grrl
2008-07-29 04:25 pm UTC (link)
Thankfully my friends and I had packed up and headed out right after the storytelling workshop. We were eating at the diner in Hillsdale when the worst of the storm was going through. We headed back to the festival site to make sure a friend was able to get out through that illegal driveway where [info]shakenbysound got out.

Glad to hear that it seems as thought everyone ended up safe.

(Reply to this)

At the Main Stage
[info]aldon
2008-07-29 06:44 pm UTC (link)
Wow! It is fascinating reading all these other stories. I was sitting at the Main Stage listening to Tracy and Jim. As other noted, Tracy was pretty nervous about the coming lightening and asked if she should continue. Everyone cheered for her to keep playing, so she did.

Jim was playing "1952 Vincent Black Lightening" as the rain started and they called time out at the end of the song. I stayed on the hill and huddled under the tarp next to my 15 year old daughter and two of her friends.

My daughter took a bunch of pictures of us inside the tarp, including pictures of us picking up hailstones. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some of them online later when I get them from my daughter.

We had packed up in the morning and had been thinking about leaving after Tracy's set, so when security came around and told people to head for safety, we went to our car and drove down the hill. We waited for a long time in the main parking lot, waiting for our turn to get out onto Route 22. We didn't know that 22 North was closed. We were heading south, and then east on 23. One of our shortcuts was closed, so our trip home took a little longer than it otherwise would have.

As we were heading down 22, I commented to my daughter about how it looked like power had been lost in parts of Hillsdale. I hadn't heard that the power had been cut at the festival, but I wonder if it was really that the storm took out power in a larger part of Hillsdale, including the festival.

I've got some pictures and videos of the festival, including some of the coming storm, up on my Flickr page and my Blip.tv page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldon
and
http://ahynes1.blip.tv

Also, I've been putting up blog posts on my blog, Orient Lodge:
http://www.orient-lodge.com

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: At the Main Stage - [info]fyregoddess875, 2008-07-29 06:58 pm UTC
Re: At the Main Stage - [info]boyhowdy25, 2008-07-30 11:49 am UTC
Re: At the Main Stage - [info]rekling, 2008-07-30 02:39 pm UTC

[info]strayfarce
2008-07-29 10:57 pm UTC (link)
I posted my synopsis of the weekend here:
http://strayfarce.com/2008/07/27/shiver-in-my-bones-just-thinking-about-the-weather.aspx

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(Anonymous)
2008-07-30 12:28 am UTC (link)
We were in our car. After the wake-up call we decided to run back to the camp to get some cash, and it started thundering and getting dark, so I called zach and he told us about the severe tstorm warning, so we decided to wait a few minutes. then it started storming like crazy, so we got into the car and listened to the mainstage on the radio. Tracy was in the middle of vincent black lightning, or maybe just done, when she stopped and then we heard "GRAB THE ROPES!" and then the radio went dead. I think the side of the tree line we were on saved us from major damage.

rhiannon giles

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[info]jkpolk
2008-07-30 01:52 am UTC (link)
I was bolting out of there. Had my car packed up and was heading down the hill as the rain started, trying to beat it. Hit the gravel road just as the hail hit. Felt so bad for the people running around. :(

Had a hell of a time driving home on the roads but I was lucky, considering.

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[info]maedbh7
2008-07-30 05:04 am UTC (link)
Watched Tracy until she and Jim bolted from the stage (immediately after wrapping up Gentle Arms of Eden....kudos to Tracy for braving it through that and then fleeing) and it rained through most of that. Had just enough time to get to the tree line right of the stage when the hail began.

Shelter under a tree during a lightening strike - not so smart; big tree protecting me from hail - handy. Only visible alternative - make a dive for the underside of a nearby Grand Cherokee. What can I say, I hid nearby the tree, and once the hail let up, went to find my friends who were on-shift at Info tent.

No Info tent on the horizon - that's a bad sign. All are well and present and accounted for, but yeah....

First year at Falcon Ridge. Kinda like baptism by fire, really. -H...

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[info]rekling
2008-07-30 12:44 pm UTC (link)
We're calling it "The 20-Year Storm", in honor of the 20th Anniversary.

I was hanging out with my partner, who was working at the Teen Crew canopy. We were watching the lightening during the break in the rain, and counting how close the thunder was. He'd just sent a bunch of teens out to put out more hay, and we'd re-staked the poles of the (very flimsy - no side supports) canopy. As soon as the wind started to blow, it came right over, so we used it to cover the last of the hay (figuring that if it rained, more hay would be needed).

Then, we went and huddled under the ATM and at the Security Canopy. When it got windier, we ran into the Site Crew Tent. I had a big rain poncho, but my partner just had a t-shirt and jeans.

There was a side panel open near the electrical panel, and people were worried about rain getting in on the wires, so I was trying to fasten the metal clips when a *huge* gust of wind blew the entire thing out of my hands, and pulled the tent over on us. Someone must have screamed "get out", and I remember seeing all the wires getting pulled, and realizing that they were all still live. It was pretty scary.

We ran out and hid on the end of the Instrument Lock-up trailer. A bunch of people were running around everywhere, panicking. We got a few of them to stay behind the trailer with us. My partner was soaked, and freezing, as were a lot of people. He's got a mark on his forehead where a hailstone hit him before we got to a place that would block the hail.

When the storm died down, we went out to the car (we were supposed to leave at 2pm, so all our stuff was luckily packed up) to get him dry clothing. It was still raining a bit. We passed the ticket sales booth, which had been completely torn apart.

Then we went exploring to try to find our friends/family. The Family Tent looked to have weathered the storm, but the other tents were down. Some merchant tents seemed okay, but others were destroyed. We hung out for a bit at the Dance Tent, which seemed to be the sturdiest there, until they screamed to get out because another storm was coming.

We didn't heed that warning, and continued to walk around to check on friends. Our camp was mostly dismantled, but the two tents that were still up had survived. Other friends had canopies destroyed, tents flooded, etc. It rained a bit more, but it never got stormier.

Finally, around 4pm, we got in the car, took some Rescue Remedy, put on dry clothes again, and set off.

-Rek

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