May 5th marks the 10th anniversary of the May-fest hailstorm
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 11:31 am
1995 Mayfest hailstorm led to changes
By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Mayfest 2005 began Thursday in Fort Worth's Trinity Park.
But a decade ago during Mayfest, on May 5, 1995, the worst hail storm in North Texas history turned the outdoor festival into a MASH unit.
The fesitval site along the Trinity River looked like a war zone. Baseball-sized hail injured dozens of people, and left smashed windshields and heavily-dented cars in its wake.
Vendor Mike Gellnar helped police and other emergency personnel rescue children, many of whom had been separated from their parents when the hail began.
"It all happened so fast that parents on one end of the park ... they'd be over here performing and had nowhere to go," Gellnar said.
The 1995 Mayfest storm ranks as one of the world's most expensive non-tornadic thunderstorms, costing more than $1 billion and sending insurance premiums through the roof.
It also served as a wake-up call to Fort Worth emergency managers. Beginning a year after the storms and continuing ever since, volunteers from RACES - the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service - set up and operate a mobile weather command center at Mayfest.
The mobile center is equipped with antennas, radios and computers connected to the National Weather Service, Fort Worth's emergency management team and city police in the park.
"If they have as much as 30 minutes notice, they can clear the park," .
"It's extremely important - they're very critical to us," said Fort Worth Police Lt. David Ellis. "They provide us information in real time, as it's occurring."
Better technology and improved communications are helping make outdoor events like Mayfest safer, according to National Weather Service meteorologist in charge Bill Bunting.
"As we know this time of year, seconds can make a big difference," Bunting said.
"They're a lot more prepared," said Gellnar, who is back at Mayfest again this year. "They're not taking anything for granted anymore."
By DON WALL / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Mayfest 2005 began Thursday in Fort Worth's Trinity Park.
But a decade ago during Mayfest, on May 5, 1995, the worst hail storm in North Texas history turned the outdoor festival into a MASH unit.
The fesitval site along the Trinity River looked like a war zone. Baseball-sized hail injured dozens of people, and left smashed windshields and heavily-dented cars in its wake.
Vendor Mike Gellnar helped police and other emergency personnel rescue children, many of whom had been separated from their parents when the hail began.
"It all happened so fast that parents on one end of the park ... they'd be over here performing and had nowhere to go," Gellnar said.
The 1995 Mayfest storm ranks as one of the world's most expensive non-tornadic thunderstorms, costing more than $1 billion and sending insurance premiums through the roof.
It also served as a wake-up call to Fort Worth emergency managers. Beginning a year after the storms and continuing ever since, volunteers from RACES - the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service - set up and operate a mobile weather command center at Mayfest.
The mobile center is equipped with antennas, radios and computers connected to the National Weather Service, Fort Worth's emergency management team and city police in the park.
"If they have as much as 30 minutes notice, they can clear the park," .
"It's extremely important - they're very critical to us," said Fort Worth Police Lt. David Ellis. "They provide us information in real time, as it's occurring."
Better technology and improved communications are helping make outdoor events like Mayfest safer, according to National Weather Service meteorologist in charge Bill Bunting.
"As we know this time of year, seconds can make a big difference," Bunting said.
"They're a lot more prepared," said Gellnar, who is back at Mayfest again this year. "They're not taking anything for granted anymore."
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