Some Amazon questions answered, others remain
Monday, Dec 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mike Koziatek at the BND…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that an investigation is underway to determine what happened at Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse where six people were killed in a tornado Friday night. […]
Pritzker, who spoke during a news conference after touring the Amazon warehouse, said Illinois should consider whether building codes need to be changed in light of “climate change.” […]
Amazon employees and “partners” who were at the building when the tornado hit were asked to “shelter in place” at the building’s designed interior place on the north side of the building, which is on the opposite of the 1.1 million-square-foot building where the tornado actually struck the building.
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the designated shelter in space is an interior section of the warehouse and is not built any differently than the rest of the building.
All of the persons who gathered in the safe place survived the storm and the persons who died were on the south side of the building where the tornado struck.
Well, that’s one question answered. We now know that the shelter in place area wasn’t hardened.
* But the Amazon claim about there being only one shelter in place spot seems to contradict this claim by a survivor…
Jaeira Hargrove and Etheria Hebb loaded up their delivery vans Friday morning at an Amazon facility near Edwardsville and spent the day delivering packages in the Glen Carbon area.
When the weather started turning bad, they returned and quickly parked their vans. A woman told them to head to the bathroom because of a tornado warning, Hargrove said Sunday in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. […]
“We were just standing there talking. That’s when we heard the noise. It felt like the floor started moving. We all got closer to each other. We all started screaming,” Hargrove said.
The building collapsed as an EF3 tornado smashed into it.
Both Hargrove and Hebb were knocked to the floor. Hargrove was calling out to Hebb, but Hebb didn’t respond. She was one of the six people who were killed in the building’s collapse.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 4:03 pm:
Not having a hardened space implicates both Amazon and Edwardsville which should require that on industrial buildings.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 4:10 pm:
The Amazon person was very specific to not call it a safe room. I see why there needs to be a determination as to how much warning was given. A previous post has the police and Amazon offering different timelines. Less time to take cover is a better thing for Amazon, more time shows they might not given a true warning. I just think in general we won’t like much of what we hear in the next few days. But someone shouldn’t have to run a thousand feet or so to be safe - you wouldn’t have to cover that much to find a fire exit.
- Donnie Elgin - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 4:13 pm:
“Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the designated shelter in space is an interior section of the warehouse and is not built any differently than the rest of the building”
Does the local building code have a requirement for shelters that meet the International Code Council (ICC), ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500) ?
https://tinyurl.com/4kwnahwf
- Nick Name - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 4:27 pm:
===Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that an investigation is underway to determine what happened at Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse where six people were killed in a tornado Friday night. […]===
CNN just reported that President Biden is calling for a federal investigation.
- MyTwoCents - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 5:21 pm:
I agree with Cool Papa Bell, it’s not enough to have a shelter space. It needs to be large enough for all employees and there needs to be enough to cover a large area. There’s no guarantee that there’s going to be a lot of warning with a tornado and people need to be able to get to shelter quickly.
- Anon221 - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 5:39 pm:
There’s a LOT to unpack in this investigative report from Consumer Reports. But there is some good background information on the building boom going on by Amazon which may indicate how many buildings the company may have to harden after the Edwardsville tornado.https://www.consumerreports.org/corporate-accountability/when-amazon-expands-these-communities-pay-the-price-a2554249208/
- Anyone Remember - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 7:06 pm:
Edwardsville is the extreme northern edge of New Madrid Fault’s zone … in addition to having tornado shelters, those buildings will be earthquake proof … as expensive as any California building … .
- Cornerfield - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 7:20 pm:
Reinforced concrete restrooms as storm shelters should be the norm. They saved the lives of every single one of the 150 employees at the Parsons Manufacturing plant during the 2014 Roanoke F4 tornado.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-07-19-0407190200-story.html
- Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 8:17 pm:
The infrastructure money from D. C. Could perhaps be tapped to assist with improvement of existing shelters, maybe as matching funds. Or, repubs like tax breaks, so maybe a targeted one to motivate those specific improvements to some standard?
- DuPage - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 8:23 pm:
===Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that an investigation is underway to determine what happened at Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse where six people were killed in a tornado Friday night. […]===
===CNN just reported that President Biden is calling for a federal investigation.===
What happened? A large tornado hit their building; most buildings would be leveled by a direct hit of a large tornado.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 8:38 pm:
===What happened? A large tornado hit their building; most buildings would be leveled by a direct hit of a large tornado.===
Your compassionate ignorance is noted and embarrassing
- ESR - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 9:07 pm:
“===What happened? A large tornado hit their building; most buildings would be leveled by a direct hit of a large tornado.===
Your compassionate ignorance is noted and embarrassing”
Your predictable ignorance is tiring.
“Pritzker, who spoke during a news conference after touring the Amazon warehouse, said Illinois should consider whether building codes need to be changed in light of “climate change.”
His predictable ignorance is also tiring.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Dec 13, 21 @ 9:14 pm:
===Your predictable ignorance is tiring.===
When you think it’s cool to say “get over it” with a tragedy… it speaks to a lack of compassion, and real lacking to being… human.
I can’t help some lack, but being upset when one says “get over it”, is making themselves a victim, and not understanding whom are the real victims.
I’m always appreciative when folks tell who they are.
- Conusone - Tuesday, Dec 14, 21 @ 3:09 am:
‘Always appreciative when folks tell who they are’?
Then too,’What they are’ by the very same folks who think they know everything, especially those who ‘tell who they are’.
Very high seat up there on the Mountaintop.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Dec 14, 21 @ 7:09 am:
=== by the very same folks who think they know everything, especially those who ‘tell who they are’.===
Yeah, you’re defending “get over it” with a tragedy.
I’d stop digging.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Dec 14, 21 @ 10:32 am:
=What happened? A large tornado hit their building; most buildings would be leveled by a direct hit of a large tornado.=
What didn’t happen? Amazon didn’t build a building with multiple safe places to shelter in. The room wasn’t even particularly “safe”. It was just more safe than the rest of the structure. No one died at Parson’s because - wait for it - what happened was the owner took precautions and spent a little extra money to protect the lives of his employees.