Hail No! Del Yeah! Tell us your storm stories...

[DelFest]

Were you blown away by DelFest? Tell us your stories and how you survived the Del-uge of 2009

[Krista Morris]

Tornadoes are definitely not common around here. I was raised in Cumberland and have only experienced one tornado in the area. What we got hit by was definitely a freak storm. I'm still not entirely certain what kind of storm it was or if it was even a tornado (which I suspected it was...or something very close to one...but can't find any meteorological reports). From what I have heard it was sunny about a mile or so away in one direction and just raining about a mile in the another direction. Most people in the surrounding area had no clue what was happening. It was like the storm just had it out for Delfest! I think everyone was taken by surprise and I'm sure next year there will be more preparation and warning in the event of a weather emergency. Glad you made it out safe and here's hoping for nice days next year!

[walter b robertson]

i am 53 ,from mount savage and there has been 3 tornados that i can recall myself

[kevin]

I'm just glad that no one was seriously injured and that there was enough time in between the two hail storms to drink a beer and smoke a cigarette. I still can't believe Leftover Salmon played.

[Sara and Wes]

Right on Kevin, right on. hahaha, yeah we were in the woods, on the far side of one of the baseball fields so we loved the storm. I thought it was great. hahaha. Sure our tent was in a river of about 3" of rain, and we were getting domed with golf ball sized hail, but its all good!! I thought it was DEL-ishious!

[Krista Morris]

I'm with you on that! Glad no one was hurt, especially those who had an unfortunate encounter with lightning. A cigarette I definitely could have used at that point as well.

[Connie Maasry]

HI it seems all our stories are the same WHAT the He** was THAT??? I so loved that EVERYONE STEPPED UP and was HELPING OTHERS!!! Delfest 2010 HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL FOLKS INVOLVED WITH PUTTING THE FEST ON AND KEEPING IT ONNNNNNNNNN YOU ROCK!!!!
CM/richmond va

[Donna]

I was front row getting shots of Sam Bush. Heard a few songs when the rain drops started. Pulled the poncho out and figured "this thing is going to pass quickly as it blew in too fast". WRONG. When Sam finished his song, they shut things down and moved to back of stage. I remember he and his band coming back to get instruments. (After the storm, I talked to Sam and Jean McCoury. Sam said he had just bought a new Fender amp which he had never used. It got soaked ad then a wind gust just blew it over)

Headed over to the small pop-up that went to the VIP tent w/ the bleachers. From here, I saw one of the big vendor tents airborne and slammed into Del's bus. Someone told me it took off one of the mirrors on it.

Some told us to go to the larger tent(near the beer truck), Being near the front, I was able to see damage as it occurred to the vendor row near the merch tent as well as main stage. The guys on main stage were doing all they could to cover up equipment. I saw the tents and pop ups on the stage blown off. A group of folks had a huge sheet of plastic holding it up during storm to provide some protection to the blowing wind. I remember several small children were crying and their parents were trying to comfort them. I was standing near a pole when i saw it start to move. I held it and then another gentleman came over to grab it. I remember he was shivering. Some of us started to walk out when the second wave hit.

The wind changed directions several times. It reminded me of when a hurricane's eye passes.(Though I live about 4-5 hrs from coast, we have had hurricanes to come inland bringing with it rain, wind, hail. I saw some debris in the air, mainly leaves, etc. but I truly wondered if this was a tornado. I spoke w/ some of the locals and they said there had been reports of tornados across the mountain. I've not been able to find any confirming reports online.

I'd just like to thank the staff of Delfest for their efforts. They came over to the tent and told us they were trying to get vehicles in to transport folks out of there. The couple w/ the small kids left during the lull. I hope the kids will be ok as I felt so bad for them. Also, an individual was in a wheel chair--I hope she is ok, On Sunday, I was in the VIP tent when the staff came around warning everyone that another storm was approaching in about 20 min.

On a lighter note, there was a group of guys right behind the fence braving the elements during this. They were dancing looking up into the sky. All I could think of was the rainstorm that happened during Woodstock!

Things happen for a reason. I thank God there were no serious injuries. A song from the sixties by Jackie Deshannon came to mind "Think of your fellow man, give him a helping hand, put a little love in your heart" pretty much described what happened. Delfesters--you should be proud of yourselves!

HAIL NO, DEL YEAH!!

[Kathy Diggins]

AMEN!!!!!!!

[Shannon Pavlovcic]

So, in my husband's infinite wisdom, we had a tarp at our blanket at the music meadow when the storm hit. We (me, my 1 year old whose birthday just happened to be THAT day!, two 12 year old girls, our friend Mike, and the girls' dads) gathered under the tarp to weather the storm. As you know, it just kept getting worse, so we were eventually trapped under the tarp for fear of being pelted by the hail. When I realized the storm wasn't going to stop any time soon (my hope had run out), I looked at my one year old (who I was holding), and I could see him screaming, but I couldn't hear him. Everyone under the tarp grabbed a corner, except for me- I was pushing the jogging stroller, and we made it to the BuzzThru easy-up. The kind employees allowed me and my hysterical son to hang out in their "boat" until the storm died down.

It was great to see everyone pull together during the storm....However, next time a thunder storm comes, and we're in the middle of a field, I will find other shelter besides a tarp. I must say, though, that the tarp really held up well. My son was kept safe and dry, albeit completley terrified, throughout the heaviest bouts of hail.

We will definitely be back next year, but I doubt he will ever have a birthday as memorable as that....

[Sara Boynton]

My boyfriend and I were lucky enough to be in the Grand Stand when the storm hit. It was scary enough in there that I can't even imagine being out on the field. I felt particularly badly for all the children, they looked terrified. Here is a video he shot of the storm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjeVVMYknC4

I am originally from Florida and I'm used to crazy storms but that impressed even me!

[Dawn Lipshultz]

My husband, a friend, my 2 daughters (5 and 2.5), and I were under umbrellas on the field when the rain began. We figured, it's just a thunderstorm...wow. When the hail started my husband was using the bathroom. We were getting pelted and shivering and my 5 year old was really scared. Once there was a lull, and strange warm breeze, my husband suggested this could be an eye in the storm and we should make a run for it. I took my 2.5 year-old and an umbrella and ran. I made it through the flowing streams, mud, etc only to one of the vendor tents (Italian food/apple crisp guys). The wind started picking up again and I decided to stop there. Then the hail started again, only bigger and with stronger winds. I'm watching 5 men try to hold down this tent and the propane tanks to which it is tethered start rattling around. One guy, Neil, helped me to another guys' (Papa) minivan where we rode out the rest of it under a blanket. About 2 minutes after I went into the van, their entire structure went. Papa let me have his blanket for my daughter because she was shivering and scared. I went to see some friends in their bus and they gave me a dry shirt for her. I offered dry blankets to my helpful friends which they didn't want, but did take a beer. :-)

I finally made it back to our site: tent poles were bent, sun shade was crushed, and all of the girls' stuff was soaked. Everyone was safe and sound in the car and I was really happy to see the rest of my people. We drove to a friend's cabin about 30 miles away and spent the night there. We dried all of our stuff and came back the next day to clean up. When we heard there was another "cell" moving south, I made the decision to not spend the night. We packed everything up but didn't leave until after DSO's set break.

Thanks to everyone for such a helpful, loving community and thanks to High Sierra for all of their hard work. We'll see you next year!

[James W]

I got to witness the storm from the GrandStand, and have not seen any videos or pictures that truly does the storm justice. I'm sure more will surface, but it was quite a site, and a story that I'll be telling for years to come. We were camped in the tall grassy area right next to the big dirt lot (which obviously turned into a mud-lot) so we did pretty well with our camp recovery. just wanted to add that everybody who was a part of this festival is amazing and friendly. everyone chipped in to make sure everyone was good. As far as the warning, we were watching the radar, and there was no warning, the storm didn't travel from the west, it just appeared at the moutain and stayed there. I'm sure if they saw radar coming they would have told us, but there was simply no warning or indication until it was already too late.