Why the SEC Should Catch Hell for the "Tourney Tornado"

Sitting on the floor of the Georgia Dome on Friday night, watching my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime against a very despised Mississippi State team, a very odd occurrenceum—occurred.

At about three minutes left in overtime, a loud, thunder-like roar was heard inside the Dome.  The fans and band members around me all looked at each other like, "Did you just hear that," but we all dismissed it—until it happened again.

With about 2:25 left in overtime, the rumble began again, but this time it stayed for a good minute at least.

The second rumble was identified easily after hearing the first, so since it was a reoccurring sound, my attention went straight to the bleachers that are set up to create a basketball atmosphere, wondering if those fans were trying to make noise.

I soon recognized that those people weren't making noise, they were running for the exits, as were the Alabama dance team who was sitting right behind me.  As it turns out, a large beam spanning the length of the Georgia Dome floor was swaying back and forth along with a temporary LCD screen, both hanging over the temporary bleachers.

Then came the tornado.  The fiberglass roof of the Georgia Dome began to ripple like a parachute in an elementary P.E. class.  Nuts and Bolts began to fall from the ceiling of the Dome and the lights along the ceiling begin to shake.  At this point, I knew something was wrong.

I looked around me and one of the 'Bama fans who was on the floor with me was practically on the concourse by this time.  I later found out he was an Atlanta native and remembered a story in which three people were killed by the roof fiberglass a few years back. 

Then, two side panels of the dome were blown open, shooting insulation out like snow. 

The rumbling finally stopped and my attention returned to the court, which was without players, coaches and officials and 2:11 left on the clock.  An hour later, I would find out that Alabama was about to shoot free throws.

Jerry Mincey, a Georgia World Congress Center police officer, was quoted in this morning's Birmingham News about what he saw.

"I saw the bottom of what looked like a tornado just come up out of nowhere and rip across the top of the Dome," he said.  I have no reason to doubt this account because, as I have been told for 20 years, it sounds like a freight train, and I just wanted off the tracks.

This whole ordeal has led me to one conclusion: The SEC and Georgia Dome officials must be reprimanded for how this situation was handled.

For starters, there was no warning of the storm until it introduced itself to the roof of the Dome. 

According to CNN and Fox News articles, the warning was given out at 9:26 pm ET.  The storm hit the Dome at 9:45 pm ET.  That was 20 minutes in which no one inside the Dome was warned of the conditions outside the Dome and the potential danger.  Somewhere along the lines of communication, this should have been brought to an important someone's attention so they could take proper action to protect the fans.

Even after the storm hit, they had no update on the weather outside for 30 minutes.  Fans were encouraged to stay inside the Dome, which could have been without a roof by this time.

Mississippi State guard Ben Hansbrough said, "I thought it was either a tornado or a terrorist attack."  Either way, the SEC or Georgia Dome was not prepared for either.

Second, the SEC had to scramble for a back-up plan, not having one in place. 

Sure, maybe Philips Arena was the back up plan, but being so close to the Georgia Dome, a terrorist attack would more than likely affect both arenas.  Philips Arena received extensive damage to its exterior and pieces of the outside were found scattered around the area.  The Arena was hosting a Hawks-Clippers game at the time of the storm.

The SEC has finally settled on using Georgia Tech Alexander Memorial Coliseum arena on their campus, but it only holds 9,100 fans, not even half of how many tickets would be sold for a sell out at the Dome. 

Also, the winner of the Georgia-Kentucky game must play a second game tonight in order to finish the tournament in time for an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

So as the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament moves to Tampa and the St. Pete Times Forum next year and other arenas in the three seasons after that, the SEC needs to prepare for a similar problem from now on, as well as the rest of college basketball.

 Someone may need to go ahead and get on the phone with South Florida and begin planning the back up plan for the Sun Dome for 2009.