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Proactive

Warning: metaphor ahead. Though the incident described below is real, the stated reaction might be a little over the top. We in North America seem to be getting used to that.

kj · July 12, 2005

I just spent five days camped in a field with 5000 of my closest friends. The occasion was the the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

On the last night, while we were off at the Main Stage enjoying the soft strains of the Mary Ellen Carter, a freak windstorm tore through the campground, literally picking up hundreds of tents full of camping gear and hurling them through the air, some covering distances of over 500 meters. Entire rows of porta-potties were knocked flat, leaving fields full of people with nowhere to do their business. Others were blown onto fire-pits, rendering their contents to ash. Some were never found at all.

It was a terrible, random occurrence. Many tents were lost. And now, festival organizers are left with the agonizing decision of what to do to prevent future such mishaps.

Really, there are two ways to react to this sort of thing:

One approach would be to ensure that all camping equipment is rated for extreme weather. Campers without hurricane-grade equipment, or sufficient ballast to prevent blowaways would be turned away. Such a move would require mandatory camping equipment searches at the trailheads, which would result in long delays. There is also the issue of staff training, as the current crop of volunteers is ill-suited for determining what gear is monsoon-rated. To cut down on the number of infractions, fines could be levied to those who bring unsafe gear to the festival.

Once the equipment checks are in place, the next step would be to invest heavily in weather-affecting technologies. Large windbreaks could be built. Aircraft could be used to break up cloud formations downwind. Strategically-placed fans could disrupt forming storms. Though many of these technologies are unproven, it is expected that by the time they are needed, the engineers will have solved these little technical glitches.

Finally, some kind of weather warning system would be implemented. A series of color-coded weather alerts would be needed. Orange, for instance, could indicate a heightened state of weather alertness.

The downside to all of this, of course, is cost. These measures will cost money, so it is expected that camping costs at the Winnipeg folk festival will increase from their current level of $30 to just over $5000 per pass. Since this is clearly a prohibitive expense, the money could be spent now, and paid back with future Festival revenues. It may take several hundred years, but it is hoped that the increase in public safety would be well worth it.

There’s another approach, of course. And that is to acknowledge that random events like this happen, and that all the spending in the world isn’t going to bend the weather to our will. We simply have to be prepared. These things happen. Fortunately, they don’t happen that often.

You can guess which way I’m leaning.

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