It had looked like clear skies earlier Wednesday, a perfect day for an outdoor concert. Halsey had been scheduled to perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion, a large outdoor venue in Columbia, Maryland.
Instead, unexpected torrential downpours flooded the partially covered amphitheater, leaving fans wading through filthy, ankle-deep water until the show was finally canceled.
Halsey never wound up taking the stage, and later said in a tweet they were “heartbroken and panicked” by the ordeal, but called off the performance over safety concerns.
Photos and videos of the chaotic scene have flooded (lol, sorry) social media, with attendees sharing their tales of how it devolved into such a mess.
“Water came rushing through the amphitheater,” Staci Downing, 26, told BuzzFeed News. “Water bottles, beer bottles, chicken tenders, you name it, came flooding down the steps into the pit.”
The first opener’s set was cut short due to the storm, but venue staff reassured the crowd that the concert would continue. Meanwhile, people’s phones were lighting up with emergency alerts warning of flash floods and thunderstorms.
Shortly before 9 p.m., many received tornado warning alerts. Still, the event was not called off, and staff directed attendees to take shelter, either by staying in the venue or going to their cars or a bathroom.
“Then the flooding started,” Anna Johns, 26, told BuzzFeed News. “At first I heard people screaming, and turned around to see what was pretty much a waterfall cascading onto the seating area of the pavilion — just like a constant stream of water.”
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/halsey-concert-storm-chaos