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Real Sad and Tragic Day :(

CoralMeister

CoralMeister

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So I went to the Pocono NASCAR race today and all was well until the thunderstorms started rolling in. I found out about an hour after the race ended that one person was killed by a lightening strike in the grandstands. He was pronounced DOA on the way to the hospital. 9 people who were next to him are also in critical condition.

This article was put up not too long ago: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/moto...uck-by-lightning-at-pocono-raceway/56811334/1


It made me really think real hard. Me or one of my friends could have been the one who did not make it safely out. It could have been absolutely anyone. Unfortunately it was a terrible "wrong place wrong time" scenario. RIP to the fan, terrible way to have the race end.
 
Reef Fixations

Reef Fixations

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....I just texted my next door neighbor after reading this. He & his wife went & I haven't seen them today (their car isn't here and they're usually the types to be up late. They just called me back wondering what the heck I was talking about & I told them. They said ,"oh so that's what all those ambulances were about."
 
CoralMeister

CoralMeister

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Reef Fixations said:
....I just texted my next door neighbor after reading this. He & his wife went & I haven't seen them today (their car isn't here and they're usually the types to be up late. They just called me back wondering what the heck I was talking about & I told them. They said ,"oh so that's what all those ambulances were about."
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Yeah people were scrambling all over the place during the storm. It was very very chaotic. The parking lot looked like a scene of a horrible accident, there were just sirens everywhere. It really was almost like a nightmare.

Btw glad to hear your neighbors are safe.
 
cmantis

cmantis

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You know I was driving in Philly today when the crazy lightning struck and I was actually scared. That is tragic what happened. I pray everyone else makes it ok and a full recovery.
 
KathyC

KathyC

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This was awful, and extremely upsetting.
I absolutely do not understand why they did not stop the race earlier. Did they really think people would leave while the cars were still racing?

If they issued the severe weather warning at 4:12..then why wasn't the race stopped until 4:54?? I hear the lightening didn't strike until 7 minutes after that point.
And what kind of crap is it to send a warning out on Twitter? They DO have loudspeakers there and should have warned the crowd multiple times.

They make rules about everything else..they certainly need to revisit severe weather warnings in an outdoor sporting event.
 
CoralMeister

CoralMeister

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KathyC said:
This was awful, and extremely upsetting.
I absolutely do not understand why they did not stop the race earlier. Did they really think people would leave while the cars were still racing?

If they issued the severe weather warning at 4:12..then why wasn't the race stopped until 4:54?? I hear the lightening didn't strike until 7 minutes after that point.
And what kind of crap is it to send a warning out on Twitter? They DO have loudspeakers there and should have warned the crowd multiple times.

They make rules about everything else..they certainly need to revisit severe weather warnings in an outdoor sporting event.
Click to expand...

Thing is that there were multiple warnings over the loud speaker. About 10 minutes before it started to rain NASCAR officials came on the speakers and told everyone in the grandstands to go back to their cars because of lightning reports on the radar in the local area. About 30 minutes passed, stopped raining and everyone came back out. Race started, lasted a good 90 laps, until it started to rain again. Red flag was called for a light drizzle. Usually everyone stays and waits out the rain delay because the storms were really in like 10-30 minute intervals. It was strange. So during the red flag delay it was when the thunder brutally started rolling in and tragedy struck...

Also a rule in NASCAR is that If a race is disrupted because of rain, the delay will last for one hour and after the hour is complete and it is still raining, the driver who was in first place at the time is declared the winner...which in this case was Jeff Gordon.
 
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jgraz

jgraz

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KathyC said:
This was awful, and extremely upsetting.
I absolutely do not understand why they did not stop the race earlier. Did they really think people would leave while the cars were still racing?

If they issued the severe weather warning at 4:12..then why wasn't the race stopped until 4:54?? I hear the lightening didn't strike until 7 minutes after that point.
And what kind of crap is it to send a warning out on Twitter? They DO have loudspeakers there and should have warned the crowd multiple times.

They make rules about everything else..they certainly need to revisit severe weather warnings in an outdoor sporting event.
Click to expand...

Not for nothing but shouldn't the fans be smart enough to realize they should not be sitting in the grandstands during a lighting storm. I mean a little common sense and all of this is averted. It should not be NASCAR's responsibility to babysit.
 
duke62

duke62

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jgraz said:
Not for nothing but shouldn't the fans be smart enough to realize they should not be sitting in the grandstands during a lighting storm. I mean a little common sense and all of this is averted. It should not be NASCAR's responsibility to babysit.
Click to expand...

your talking about race car fans LMAO.. Money is more important than human life dont you know that :(
 
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