'It's A Disaster': Chaos Reigned At Gov Ball Sunday Night As Attendees Fled Big Storms

Thing were already muddy on Saturday.

This year's Governors Ball was blessed with good weather on Friday and Saturday (though the fields were soggy from recent rainstorms), but the skies fully opened up on Sunday and delivered a torrential rainstorm, lightning, and thunder. The big weather event happened after an earlier delay because of weather concerns—around 11:30 a.m. Gov Ball organizers announced that the lineup had shifted, and the gates would open at 6:30 (around six hours later than planned). At approximately 9:30 p.m. they announced a site evacuation, and just before 11:30 p.m. organizers sent out the following statement:

After close consultation with NYC officials and law enforcement, it was deemed necessary to cancel the event for the safety of our festival goers, artists and crew. We are as devastated as our fans by this decision, but nothing is more important than the safety of all attendees. While the festival is always rain or shine, we can’t proceed in weather as severe as tonight’s storm and lightning. Evacuation procedures were followed, and at this time, the island is clear of all guests.

They have also announced details about refunds: "All customers who purchased a Sunday ticket and Sunday transportation ticket through the Gov Ball ticketing page will receive a refund directly to the account used to purchase. All customers who purchased a 3-Day Pass and 3-Day Transportation pass directly through the Gov Ball Ticketing page will receive a partial/pro-rated refund directly to the account used to purchase. At this time we expect all refunds to be processed within 21 days."

Following the cancellation, attendees uploaded photos and videos from the concert site as they tried to navigate a way home. One Instagram video shows concertgoers vandalizing an art installation as security guards use force to intervene. The video below (you need to swipe to the second video) appears to show a security guard throwing a punch at one attendee, while other concertgoers are dragged to the ground. The uploader wrote, in part, "Prior to the video teens and adults decided to take apart the structure... 'rent-a-cops' decided to BEAT helpless individuals. As you see, some officers decided to brutally PUNCH KIDS and assault adults that did nothing to warrant the action."

We've reached out to Gov Ball organizers and we're told they have "shared this video with our team to assess." We'll update when we have more information on this.

Below, a tweet (and Instagram) storm following the cancellation announcement:

The above uploader described the chaotic post-cancellation scene well, writing, "So Governors Ball basically ended the way ‘Jurassic Park’ began. Except without the dinosaurs and with a giant stampede of people tearing down all barriers and fences and walking across the bridge into Manhattan because the organizers—who were cautious enough to cancel the first half of the day because of the possibility of severe weather conditions—didn’t have a solid plan for an emergency evacuation in case those severe weather conditions decided to show up."

While the masses we're all, "Oh shit we're gonna die," people in the VIP section thought everything was handled wonderfully! (This is also how things will play out five minutes prior to a meteor hitting earth.):

The Strokes have not announced any make-up shows, but posted a statement, saying, "We are glad that everyone stayed safe but we’re just as disappointed as you are that we didn’t get to play tonight." But at least one young man handled the cancellation in stride, appreciating what Mother Nature was putting down, and declaring: "...the apocalypse was lit."