Squall hits Mobile Bay/Dauphin Island Regatta, 2 dead 5 still missing

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

Sad, sad story out of Mobile this weekend where a freak squall with 50 Knot gusts popped up quick and caused boats to capsize. 2 bodies have been recovered and 5 are still unaccounted for.

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/04/dauphin_island_regatta_what_we.html

Islander · Apr 27, 2015

The weather was in the forecast-it is not unusual to have 50 -60 mph winds during a T'storm on Dauphin Island.

Bama Reb · Apr 27, 2015

Islander said:
The weather was in the forecast-it is not unusual to have 50 -60 mph winds during a T'storm on Dauphin Island.

But shouldn't the thunderstorms have waited until after the event? The regatta was most important, right?

Islander · Apr 27, 2015

Bama Reb said:
But shouldn't the thunderstorms have waited until after the event? The regatta was most important, right?

Evidently!

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

i can't believe all the jokes, 2 people are dead and 5 are still missing/probably dead

the national weather service didn't broadcast a warning until 3:08 PM well after the race was underway and the storm hit at 4PM. Sure there were general concerns but there are always those on the gulf coast this time of year.

But let's just make jokes about it

TheAccountant · Apr 27, 2015

Jon said:
i can't believe all the jokes, 2 people are dead and 5 are still missing/probably dead

the national weather service didn't broadcast a warning until 3:08 PM well after the race was underway and the storm hit at 4PM. Sure there were general concerns but there are always those on the gulf coast this time of year.

But let's just make jokes about it

1) A watch was issued around 1:30, a warning around 2:30, and a special advisory to boaters at around 3 to "seek safe harbor immediately"

2) According to the article you posted, the storm hit around 4:30.

It's a terrible tragedy, but the storm did not come on these boats out of the blue. An hour and a half is ample time to seek safer waters and it appears the organizers and/or participants ignored the warning.

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

TheAccountant said:
1) A watch was issued around 1:30, a warning around 2:30, and a special advisory to boaters at around 3 to "seek safe harbor immediately"

2) According to the article you posted, the storm hit around 4:30.

It's a terrible tragedy, but the storm did not come on these boats out of the blue. An hour and a half is ample time to seek safer waters and it appears the organizers and/or participants ignored the warning.

you are of course assuming that all of the participants had radio's and were aware,the race started at 9:30 am4 hours before the first watch was issued assuming your time above is correct and the really small boats like Hobie Cats don't typically have marine radios

TheAccountant · Apr 27, 2015

Jon said:
you are of course assuming that all of the participants had radio's and were aware,the race started at 9:30 am4 hours before the first watch was issued assuming your time above is correct and the really small boats like Hobie Cats don't typically have marine radios

it appears the organizers and/or participants ignored the warning.

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

TheAccountant said:
it appears the organizers and/or participants ignored the warning.

i'm not trying to defend the organizers, i have no idea what happened, I wasn't there. But much of this thread seems to simply not care or want to blame somebody. I'm saying focus on the dead, for now, blame can come later

TheAccountant · Apr 27, 2015

My thoughts are with the families. I spend a lot of time in those waters fishing so know how storms can come up. Explaining the warnings and what happened that afternoon isn't victim blaming.

But it's important to give a proper account of what happened and to heed warnings and not just shrug it away as some "freak" storm.

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

TheAccountant said:
My thoughts are with the families. I spend a lot of time in those waters fishing so know how storms can come up. Explaining the warnings and what happened that afternoon isn't victim blaming.

But it's important to give a proper account of what happened and to heed warnings and not just shrug it away as some "freak" storm.

fair enough

CoachJeff · Apr 27, 2015

Jon said:
i'm not trying to defend the organizers, i have no idea what happened, I wasn't there. But much of this thread seems to simply not care or want to blame somebody. I'm saying focus on the dead, for now, blame can come later

bet if i'd asked for prayers, or something else completely useless, people would be all over it

Ooh, you almost had me. I was just about login and agree with you wholeheartedly, then you had to add that smarmy nonsense. So we have callous people making jokes about dead people on one side and an evangelical atheist on the other. Sounds like a Stealer's Wheel song.

Jon · Apr 27, 2015

CoachJeff said:
Ooh, you almost had me. I was just about login and agree with you wholeheartedly, then you had to add that smarmy nonsense. So we have callous people making jokes about dead people on one side and an evangelical atheist on the other. Sounds like a Stealer's Wheel song.

yeah, sorry, whole thing had me annoyed so I added that. Removed it

Islander · Apr 27, 2015

Jon said:
i'm not trying to defend the organizers, i have no idea what happened, I wasn't there. But much of this thread seems to simply not care or want to blame somebody. I'm saying focus on the dead, for now, blame can come later

Nobody on here has joked about this, but having had a house & small boat on coastal waters for almost 50 years, I have never been in the Gulf or Mobile Bay without a hand held weather radio-at least since they have been available. If you have ever been around regattas in open water, they always have safety craft which most certainly would have had a weather radio. No one is placing blame on anyone, but someone should have known. That being said, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved, and I do not consider them to be useless!

TIDE-HSV · Apr 27, 2015

We're very lenient about "thread drift" here, but can we stay at least 1,000 miles of the topics and keep political rants to political rant threads? BTW, no reply to this post...

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Squall hits Mobile Bay/Dauphin Island Regatta, 2 dead 5 still missing

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