How to Handle Big Crowds in a Storm -- Watch Churchill Downs

This is Kentucky Oaks day at Churchill Downs in Louisville. It's the Run for the Lillies, a lot like the Kentucky Derby but staged more for the locals than the rich and famous, which the Kentucky Derby will attract tomorrow. My home office is just a few miles south of the famous track.

The race schedule was interrupted late this afternoon by thunderstorm warnings. This comes less than a week after opening night at Churchill Downs when races were delayed because of a severe storm with damaging hail, lightening, and wind. The track moved people in the grandstands under cover. No one was injured.

Today's storms drifted south of Jefferson County and missed Churchill Downs. But the Downs were challenged because of the large number of people in attendance. At 4:30, they evacuated the entire infield and the stands again to get people under shelter and into safety. Even though the storm didn't materialize, Churchill Downs took no chances and moved tens of thousands of people to safety.

Compare Churchill Downs' two responses to potentially dangerous weather to the lack of response at the Indiana State Fair last summer when the stage collapsed in a storm and killed seven people or Kilroy's Sports Bar tent in St. Louis that left one dead during a storm last week. The Downs stopped racing and evacuated people to get under cover. Today the migration started some 30 minutes before the storm arrived --  fortunately with nothing more than a whimper this time.

Congratulations to Churchill Downs for erring on the side of protecting some 112,000 people at the historic track. I'll bet few patrons will complain about the inconvenience and caution.