Soldier Field Evacuated Due To Severe Storms And Tornados

The Soldier Field in Chicago was evacuated today during a game between the home side, the Chicago Bears, and the Baltimore Ravens. Fans, players and anyone who was on the field were told to leave the ground at around 12:30 p.m.

Severe weather warnings had already been put in place across the midwest. The National Weather Service issued tornado and severe storm warnings specifically for the Chicago area, hence the need for the Soldier Field to be evacuated.

The warnings had expired by around 1:30 p.m. for the Chicago region. Although flash floods and high gale force wind warnings were still in place into the afternoon.

The fans at the game had plenty to say about the fact the game was canceled and the Soldier Field evacuated.

Brandon Rudd, a Bears supporter who only manages to get to six Bears games per season said: “They kept repeating on the loudspeaker for us to clear the area as if we had anywhere to go. Everybody stayed calm and everybody got out.”

Steve Ortega who has been a beer seller at games for the last five years said this is not the first time acute weather has affected play: “Yeah, it’s happened before. The snow and the slush…when it was just mixed together,” he said.

Candance Zorn, another fan at the game remained optimistic despite the situation: “We’re just standing around waiting for the wind to die down and hopefully the rain so we can go back in and watch the game.”

Zorn continued: “They closed the concessions I heard because people were getting a little rowdy near the food. I’m not quite sure why. (It’s) Definitely still pouring, wind is still going but we’re optimistic.”

Gino Izzi from the weather service said that they were still very worried about the weather conditions in the region: “We’re very concerned. We’re definitely stressing that this is not your run-of-the-mill tornado watch.”