Onstage Disaster in Alberta

Nightmare at 6pm MT Saturday ... like in the film, "The Mummy," a fast-moving brown cloud raced from the Northwest toward the stage at The Big Valley Jamboree. Billy Currington was saying thanks and the warning was to seek shelter. The RCMP had alerted the security a few minutes before.

The storm hit with winds estimated at 100 mph. The speaker columns seem to go first, but it all happened at light speed.

I saw the cloud and told the people I was with to RUN. I almost made it to shelter when the wind hit and lifted me off my feet. I caught myself mid-fall ... it was liked a sandblaster hitting you ... dirt, wind, then the rain. It was all so fast.

The stage had about 100 people on it ... about average. Billy Currington was wrapping up and Kevin Costner's people were in pre-show mode.

One of the stage guests was Donna Moore. A mother of two from a small Alberta town east of Edmonton. She was on some bleachers where contest winners and VIPs sit. She was crushed to death by the falling speakers and stage. Others were trapped. Billy Currington was hit in the head by something airborne. His bass player was bloodied and both went to the hospital (they are okay).

Some of Costner's band were hurt and taken to the hospital. Overall, over 20 transported, 75 injured, two remained critical late Sunday. One death.

The pictures look worse than it was. The storm was a punch in the gut. Enough to do the damage.

A few weeks -- now maybe months -- ago, I wrote here that some standards for weather needed to be adopted after the Kenny Chesney "singing in the rain" Texas show. That should have never taken place!

"The Show Must Go On" syndrome is very strong. And very understandable. I have several e-mails from industry people asking about my safety and mentioning similar concerns about shows they were in where weather showed up.

Darryl Worley was hit by flying stage gear a month or so ago in a similar storm in the upper Midwest. He had a concussion, stitches and lived to play another day.

The public-safety people MUST make these unpopular calls. It can't be anyone else.

The police have radio to get instant storm data and damage-and-course reports. As in this case, the RCMP made the alert, but nothing is instant at these events or football games. Someone needs to hit the alert SIREN! IF one had gone off here, the extra minute would have helped...

The folks at Big Valley did their best, but you have to operate in a bigger picture that the Fire and Police work from. Did the RCMP know of the wind shear that closed the airport 40 miles away? Did they know of those power outages and building damage reports? Were their radios quiet? I drove into that damage area as I left the grounds a few hours later.

Coordination, sharing of storm reports, a pre-plan ... Look at that crazy flood concert in Michigan where the river came up fast and drowned thousands of cars ... no coordination, no plan. No passing along of information between the public safety people to the concert promoters.

Now someone has died in all this. Do we need to lose one of our stars before some industry group adopts some procedures that everyone follows?

You need a plan, folks, where the show can be called off by the POLICE! They keep up with it while they guard the city. They need to know for the PUBLIC SAFETY. They need to sound the alarm with car /truck sirens and PAs if nothing else is available ... designated shelters need to be located. You need an industry plan pushed by the artists if necessary...

This is getting worse ... Billy and others could have easily been killed. A fan was tragically killed. Wake up, Music Row ... you need a universal plan!