PHILADELPHIA — Reporters were advised Monday to abandon the media center located near the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, as heavy winds and storm conditions turned makeshift newsrooms into occupational hazards.
Media filing tent outside Wells Fargo Center starting to resemble big bouncy house as storm rolls through in Philly pic.twitter.com/hK6hu0XKOU— Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) July 25, 2016
Dark clouds descend on DNC. Oh and a storm is coming. pic.twitter.com/RjEg1vF8TH
— carl hulse (@hillhulse) July 25, 2016
Dark, ominous clouds rolled over the City of Brotherly Love Monday evening, and headed toward the Wells Fargo Center where media from all over the country had converged to cover the DNC convention.
The sky turned dark, and then the wind and rain picked up; then came the thunder and lightning.
DNC organizers sent out the word: The media tents housing hundreds of journalists were not safe because of the lighting. Wind also beat down on the tent canvases, causing the metal beams to creak, bend and twist.
Water then soaked down the sides of the media centers, flooding several areas containing electrical wiring.
Members of the press were told to relocate immediately to Lincoln Financial Field, which is located right across from the Wells Fargo Center.
Now there’s an emergency alert around the storm (weather not political) at #DNC pic.twitter.com/EZtXeTrl8W
— Ryan Heath (@PoliticoRyan) July 25, 2016
Entire media tent at DNC is shaking and beams twisting in middle of big storm. #DNCinPHL pic.twitter.com/9I5u5Nc3vf
— Steve Thomma (@stevethomma) July 25, 2016
Some reporters took note, and abandoned the media tents. But many remained, and chose to wait out the storm, which eventually died down at around 8:30 p.m.
“The storm had winds of up to 50 miles per hour and heavy rain,” according to CNN. “A flash flood warning is in place in Philadelphia through midnight.”
“It capped off a day of complaints from journalists about the DNC’s logistics in Philadelphia – particularly compared to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week,” the report added.
