Indiana State Fair reopens today, remembering those that were lost.

Contrary to my last blog, there has been 5 confirmed deaths in the tragic collapse of the stage at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday.

The morning after the collapse...

The names of the deceased have been released:

The victims were identified as Tammy Vandam, 42, of Wanatah; Glenn Goodrich, 49, of Indianapolis; Alina Bigjohny, 23, of Fort Wayne; Christina Santiago, 29, of Chicago; and Nathan Byrd, 51, of Indianapolis, who died early Sunday at Methodist Hospital, as reported by The Huffington Post. Not pictured, is Tammy Vandam.

Alina

Nathan Byrd

Glenn Goodrich

Christina Santiago

When the fair reopens today, a Remembrance Ceremony will be held to "help the grieving process for all of us," explains Andy Klotz, spokesperson for the Indiana State Fair. He also reassures people that, "We have a great state fair, and we have a lot of people that want to have a fair for another week." In essence, even though the tragedy was horrific, they must move on.

When Klotz spoke to CBS this morning, he explained that organizers for the Indiana State Fair thought that they had more time to consider evacuating a grandstand before wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph toppled the stage.

Klotz continued to say, "The information we had, with our meteorologist on site with constant contact with the National Weather Service, was that we had about 30 more minutes before any kind of rain or storm blew in."

This was simply a tragedy. An unexpected and fatal learning experience.

However, was it THAT unexpected? Some meteorologists believe otherwise:

"It was very predictable," AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Smith told CBS News. "We put out a warning for 60 mile-an-hour winds a full half-hour before the stage collapse occurred."

Even though the isolated gust was unexpected, why was the audience given the "option" to evacuate?

A groundskeeper, Roger Smith, is just one of the people that believes proper precautions were NOT taken. "It's pathetic. It makes me mad. Those lives could have been saved yesterday."

Sugarland concert turns deadly. At least 4 dead and 40 injured following a stage collapse

Witnesses say it was something like a Hollywood disaster movie...


Sugarland and Indiana State Fair, both worldwide trending topics on Twitter, seem to be breaking news all over news stations as well.

Just minutes after a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Indianapolis area, a strong and unexpected gust of wind sent the steel based stage crashing into the audience.

The result: At Least 40 injured and 4 fatalities.

Forbes.com claims, "About 40 people were injured, including at least one child, WTHR reported. Witnesses reported seeing many people with head and neck injuries and broken bones."

18 of those people were allegedly rushed to the hospital, with injuries ranging from fair to critical. One of those injured was a 7-year-old child, reports a spokesperson from Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indiannapolis.

Sara Bareilles, the opening act of the show, took to Twitter to send her condolences:

@SaraBareilles: Sara Bareilles
I'm speechless and feel so helpless. Please send love and prayers to Indianapolis tonight. My heart aches for the lives lost. #indyiloveu

@SaraBareilles: Sara Bareilles
Fortunately we are all safe, but a tragic stage accident has injured some folks in indiana. Our prayers are with them and their families. :(

Sugarland also requested prayers for the families who have been affected in the horrific accident.
@Sugarlandmusic: Sugarland
We are all right. We are praying for our fans, and the people of Indianapolis. We hope you'll join us. They need your strength.

With such an unexpected tragedy, one can only wonder... Could there have been some preventative measures taken? Could these injuries and deaths been prevented?

An eye witness described his experience on an interview with Lestor Holt on the Today Show this morning. He explained that they could see storm clouds moving in from the east... "there was a 'contingency' announcement" regarding the storm. Fortunately, roughly 30% of the people took the advice and started moving... The unexpected gust was a precursor to the rain. So, this happened before the storm even came.

The rigging fell on the "pit for the best Sugarland fans," explains the eye witness. There was a condensed area of people into a designated area in front of the stage for the lucky fans. However, they were anything but lucky last night.

As soon as people recoiled from the crash, they went back to help, explains a witness.