Attendance

[PhillyApp]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

If you have a better plan, put it together and send to DG. Nobody fully expects to have to evacuate the stadium that quickly, or for that long. If you’re an expert in that area, do your part and support the athletics department by sending some suggestions.

I HAVE ONE!

How about any/all of the red/grey/green coats line up from the stands to the exits and actively manage the flow, in unison with each other! They all just clumped together and basically just watched the exiting fans getting bunched up and clogged up at tunnels/under west side stands because there was not a COORIDINATED effort to keep the crowd moving! At the choke points, at the very front and continuing backwards, they needed staff to be pushing exiting fans to keep moving. The audio PA should have been announcing to the crowd that those in front need to keep moving as to not slow down the flow behind them.
I was actually worried about lightening strikes for the last 15 minutes I was stuck in the west stands trying to get out through the tunnel to the west side concourse.
You would think there would have been an even more enhanced plan in place then usual as part of the construction planning because of the now reduced egress due to the temporary constraints posed by the construction.
Also, the damn music should have been stopped, it made it seem like exiting was “optional”. Someone made the comment to me like it was hearing the titanic band play while the ship was going down.

Send it to DG. I agree it could have been more organized and handled better, but it’s the first time (that I can recall) that we’ve had to evacuate KBS. We’re a growing program, which means growing pains will occur. It was a learning experience for everyone involved...

Also - the security is outsourced. Not sure how much of the blame falls on our athletic department vs. the outsourced company (I’d argue both), but again, a learning opportunity.

[Yosef77]

My guess is a lot of people were hesitating because they didn't know where to go when they got out of the stadium. I think it would have been better if they put up a campus map on the board showing safe places to go and get out of the weather (parking deck, gym, etc). We eventually made it to the gym which was open for everyone and could have taken in many people but there was only about 5 people in the whole place.

[The Rock]

Is it an NCAA rule that everyone has to leave the stadium? That’s what an ASU cop told me, but I don’t know about that.
I know 30,000 people can’t stand in concourse, but seems more dangerous to make people leave even if it’s standing just outside of the stadium than letting them stay under the protected concourse. Especially disabled people.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

There are three basic exits from the stadium. Moving 25,000 people out is not going to be easy especially with the construction, and how many took the time to be aware of the exit locations. The poeople in charge can only do so much. At some point the customers need to think about the best location and how to move in a large group.

[appgrad95&97]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

There are three basic exits from the stadium. Moving 25,000 people out is not going to be easy especially with the construction, and how many took the time to be aware of the exit locations. The poeople in charge can only do so much. At some point the customers need to think about the best location and how to move in a large group.

I know that this is not in keeping with the original point of this thread, but it may be more important long term. KBS is simply not designed to accommodate 25K+ fans. For years there have been complaints about concessions. But yesterday was much more serious. I can't help imagining if there had been a tornado warning...

[WASU 93]

They kept on saying "please exit," and used suggestive language, nothing definitive. The first "you MUST evacuate" came when ushers went into the stands to tell the last few people to leave.

I don't understand why the last bit of fans weren't allowed to stay underneath the concrete west stands. It's literally safer there than many other areas. They could have sold a lot of beer. I heard the club level was quite the spectacle during the delay.

Also, they should have allowed the students to exit via the field earlier than they did. Would have alleviated the choke points. Good thing the storm broke up before hitting Boone, otherwise it might have turned into a stampede.

I had one couple that said they were threatened with arrest for staying under the west stands. That's not a good way to keep people coming back.

The crossover rope for the Coastal Carolina players and sideline personnel to exit to the Quinn Center was another choke point for those on the hill. Also, people (especially new fans or visitors did not know where to go to take shelter. A plan to open Farthing/Wey and Varsity Gym should be put into place for future games.

[bcoach]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

If you have a better plan, put it together and send to DG. Nobody fully expects to have to evacuate the stadium that quickly, or for that long. If you’re an expert in that area, do your part and support the athletics department by sending some suggestions.

First of all they SHOULD be prepared whether they expect it or not. Second of all that should not fall on DG it should fall on the Chancellor who should have contingency plans for the entire university and be prepared to carry them out. Third of all I would not ask the University OR DG to run my company so I would hope they don't expect me to run theirs. Last of all denying shelter to people is just flat out stupid. There is absolutely NO defense for what happened yesterday.

[bcoach]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

There are three basic exits from the stadium. Moving 25,000 people out is not going to be easy especially with the construction, and how many took the time to be aware of the exit locations. The poeople in charge can only do so much. At some point the customers need to think about the best location and how to move in a large group.

Well when the folks in charge cut off points of exit it becomes a problem.

[PhillyApp]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

If you have a better plan, put it together and send to DG. Nobody fully expects to have to evacuate the stadium that quickly, or for that long. If you’re an expert in that area, do your part and support the athletics department by sending some suggestions.

First of all they SHOULD be prepared whether they expect it or not. Second of all that should not fall on DG it should fall on the Chancellor who should have contingency plans for the entire university and be prepared to carry them out. Third of all I would not ask the University OR DG to run my company so I would hope they don't expect me to run theirs. Last of all denying shelter to people is just flat out stupid. There is absolutely NO defense for what happened yesterday.

It’s a football game, nobody got hurt. Let’s bring it back a few notches.

I’m here to cheer my Mountaineers on, not argue with people that want to cry wolf anytime anything isn’t the way they expect it to be. And with that said, 1-0 baby!

[NoLongerLurking]

I wasn't "hurt", but did have to administer an anxiolitic and have a police officer open me an alternate exit. If you've ever seen humans stampede like I did during a rocket attack, you would realize the "hurt" that stays with you.

I brought my meds because in looking at the weather that morning, the forecast looked like the Campbell game, so I did prepare in advance.

Roll 'neers!

[bcoach]

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

If you have a better plan, put it together and send to DG. Nobody fully expects to have to evacuate the stadium that quickly, or for that long. If you’re an expert in that area, do your part and support the athletics department by sending some suggestions.

First of all they SHOULD be prepared whether they expect it or not. Second of all that should not fall on DG it should fall on the Chancellor who should have contingency plans for the entire university and be prepared to carry them out. Third of all I would not ask the University OR DG to run my company so I would hope they don't expect me to run theirs. Last of all denying shelter to people is just flat out stupid. There is absolutely NO defense for what happened yesterday.

It’s a football game, nobody got hurt. Let’s bring it back a few notches.

I’m here to cheer my Mountaineers on, not argue with people that want to cry wolf anytime anything isn’t the way they expect it to be. And with that said, 1-0 baby!

and therein lays the problem. I'm out.

[huskie3]

It's not DG nor the chancellor, there is stadium game day operations director that is in charge of those emergency decisions.

[The Rock]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

If you have a better plan, put it together and send to DG. Nobody fully expects to have to evacuate the stadium that quickly, or for that long. If you’re an expert in that area, do your part and support the athletics department by sending some suggestions.

First of all they SHOULD be prepared whether they expect it or not. Second of all that should not fall on DG it should fall on the Chancellor who should have contingency plans for the entire university and be prepared to carry them out. Third of all I would not ask the University OR DG to run my company so I would hope they don't expect me to run theirs. Last of all denying shelter to people is just flat out stupid. There is absolutely NO defense for what happened yesterday.

Exactly! This is my entire problem. If there is lightning or any other condition that makes it unsafe in the stands, people need somewhere safe to go they should not be run out of the stadium . I know 30,000 people can’t stand in the concourse, but the able body people should be sent to a nearby building ASAP. But what about the people who can’t get somewhere quickly? The staff and police didn’t care about those people and pushed them out to stand just outside the stadium for “safety??
My wife is 7 months pregnant and we have a 3 year old, we park at legends. Why should she have to try and walk across campus or through a construction zone to get to a “safe” place when we are perfectly safe in the concourse?
We couldn’t even leave if we wanted to because everyone who was made to leave the stadium just stood in the walkways and blocked the west side exits. We were literally trapped and herded outside to stand outside in the lightning because somehow that was deemed safer... that is a problem that needs to be fixed before the next game.

[HkyMtneer]

They kept on saying "please exit," and used suggestive language, nothing definitive. The first "you MUST evacuate" came when ushers went into the stands to tell the last few people to leave.

I don't understand why the last bit of fans weren't allowed to stay underneath the concrete west stands. It's literally safer there than many other areas. They could have sold a lot of beer. I heard the club level was quite the spectacle during the delay.

Also, they should have allowed the students to exit via the field earlier than they did. Would have alleviated the choke points. Good thing the storm broke up before hitting Boone, otherwise it might have turned into a stampede.

I had one couple that said they were threatened with arrest for staying under the west stands. That's not a good way to keep people coming back.

I can also confirm that folks were threatened with arrest. I was among a group, including a set of player parents, that decided to buck a bit in regards to an idiotic NCAA policy (that is about insurance and liability and has nothing to do with fan's safety) and were told to "move our asses or we'll move em' for you" by members of the ASU police force. A complete lack of professionalism from that group. One elderly gentleman and I have no idea who he was but he did say it was the first game he had been to in a few years, was trying to explain that he had problems walking and couldn't exit in a timely fashion and didn't want to get stuck out in a storm. He asked the officer if he could get a lift or escort somewhere safe (as were many people) if he couldn't just stay under the concourse, and mind you it's pretty much empty by this time, and was told "Nope, nothing we can do to help ya' but get to movin". It was rough. You could tell the ASU police force was used to getting their rocks off telling 18-22 years old what to do over generally petty offenses and when it came time to try and intimidate grown adults over an admittedly petty situation and their loud voices weren't working...they took personal offense, got defensive, and couldn't handle the situation.

[HighPointApp]

They kept on saying "please exit," and used suggestive language, nothing definitive. The first "you MUST evacuate" came when ushers went into the stands to tell the last few people to leave.

I don't understand why the last bit of fans weren't allowed to stay underneath the concrete west stands. It's literally safer there than many other areas. They could have sold a lot of beer. I heard the club level was quite the spectacle during the delay.

Also, they should have allowed the students to exit via the field earlier than they did. Would have alleviated the choke points. Good thing the storm broke up before hitting Boone, otherwise it might have turned into a stampede.

I had one couple that said they were threatened with arrest for staying under the west stands. That's not a good way to keep people coming back.

I can also confirm that folks were threatened with arrest. I was among a group, including a set of player parents, that decided to buck a bit in regards to an idiotic NCAA policy (that is about insurance and liability and has nothing to do with fan's safety) and were told to "move our asses or we'll move em' for you" by members of the ASU police force. A complete lack of professionalism from that group. One elderly gentleman and I have no idea who he was but he did say it was the first game he had been to in a few years, was trying to explain that he had problems walking and couldn't exit in a timely fashion and didn't want to get stuck out in a storm. He asked the officer if he could get a lift or escort somewhere safe (as were many people) if he couldn't just stay under the concourse, and mind you it's pretty much empty by this time, and was told "Nope, nothing we can do to help ya' but get to movin". It was rough. You could tell the ASU police force was used to getting their rocks off telling 18-22 years old what to do over generally petty offenses and when it came time to try and intimidate grown adults over an admittedly petty situation and their loud voices weren't working...they took personal offense, got defensive, and couldn't handle the situation.

Reads like the ASU Police need to have some training in dealing with natural disasters and or emergency planning. Not just command staff but all the way down to the officers. JMHO

[HkyMtneer]

They kept on saying "please exit," and used suggestive language, nothing definitive. The first "you MUST evacuate" came when ushers went into the stands to tell the last few people to leave.

I don't understand why the last bit of fans weren't allowed to stay underneath the concrete west stands. It's literally safer there than many other areas. They could have sold a lot of beer. I heard the club level was quite the spectacle during the delay.

Also, they should have allowed the students to exit via the field earlier than they did. Would have alleviated the choke points. Good thing the storm broke up before hitting Boone, otherwise it might have turned into a stampede.

I had one couple that said they were threatened with arrest for staying under the west stands. That's not a good way to keep people coming back.

I can also confirm that folks were threatened with arrest. I was among a group, including a set of player parents, that decided to buck a bit in regards to an idiotic NCAA policy (that is about insurance and liability and has nothing to do with fan's safety) and were told to "move our asses or we'll move em' for you" by members of the ASU police force. A complete lack of professionalism from that group. One elderly gentleman and I have no idea who he was but he did say it was the first game he had been to in a few years, was trying to explain that he had problems walking and couldn't exit in a timely fashion and didn't want to get stuck out in a storm. He asked the officer if he could get a lift or escort somewhere safe (as were many people) if he couldn't just stay under the concourse, and mind you it's pretty much empty by this time, and was told "Nope, nothing we can do to help ya' but get to movin". It was rough. You could tell the ASU police force was used to getting their rocks off telling 18-22 years old what to do over generally petty offenses and when it came time to try and intimidate grown adults over an admittedly petty situation and their loud voices weren't working...they took personal offense, got defensive, and couldn't handle the situation.

Reads like the ASU Police need to have some training in dealing with natural disasters and or emergency planning. Not just command staff but all the way down to the officers. JMHO

Definitely. And like I said, I was admittedly a bit of an ass myself...and the situation was relatively petty. But there we were, 40 minutes after the first calls to clear the stadium, and we were still on the concourse, in the safest situation at the time. I just felt that the scenario at that point didn't call for the "professionals" who were getting paid to be there to become bigger douches than the fans who were paying to be there.

[bcoach]

It's not DG nor the chancellor, there is stadium game day operations director that is in charge of those emergency decisions.

I am not talking about a decision I am talking about a plan and execution. Just who is responsible for the safety of all students and visitors to campus. Game day operations director? I hope not.

[T-Dog]

So it was unsafe for people to stand underneath concrete stands but it was safe for concession workers to continue selling beer? Noted.

[HighPointApp]

In the little amount of emergency management classes I’ve attended, there definitely sounds like a huge disconnect between what was written down on paper as far as planning for a weather event and executing the plan. That is two different things. I hope and pray the ASU Police, AD’s Office, game day operations and the university as a whole do an after action report and break down the good, the bad and the ugly from yesterday.

God forbid something really happen or as someone said, seeing people really stampede, will get ugly real quick and people will not be able to handle the situation.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Absolutely no exit plan in case of emergency. Pitiful planning. Actually NO planning. Total lack of leadership.

Pretty sure they tweeted out an emergency egress evacuation map on Thursday or Friday. Just saying

Did you watch it in action? Total incompetence.

There are three basic exits from the stadium. Moving 25,000 people out is not going to be easy especially with the construction, and how many took the time to be aware of the exit locations. The poeople in charge can only do so much. At some point the customers need to think about the best location and how to move in a large group.

Well when the folks in charge cut off points of exit it becomes a problem.

That I agree with and can't argue with. Very valid point.