High winds damage tent where rodeo goers will wait to catch shuttle buses
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officials will be working around the clock to ensure a tent damaged by high winds is back up in time for this week's kickoff events.
The tent where thousands of people line up to catch shuttle buses was damaged yesterday when the winds toppled the structure at NRG Park.
The Rodeo Express tent is located on the east side of the NRG complex, between Dome and Fannin. It appears about a third of it collapsed during Tuesday's windy weather.
No one was injured in the incident.
A volunteer with Rodeo Houston says they have a lot of work ahead, but they are ready to do it.
"Safety is our number one priority, and this is going to be fixed," he says. "We will make it better than what it was because we don't want this to happen on a night when there is going to be a lot of people under the tent."
The volunteer says the contracting company that puts up these tents will be assisted by other volunteers to reconstruct and reinforce the tents, making them a lot stronger than they were.
Rodeo staff members hope to have the tent repaired before any rodeo events kick off on Thursday.
We're told other tents involved with the barbecue cook-off also sustained some damage. An abc13 viewer tweeted us photos of at least one damaged tent.
Around town, the Houston Office of Emergency Management says nine trees have been reported down on roads. One abc13 viewer sent us a photo of a big uprooted tree in the Meyerland area.
The city is asking for everyone to call 311 if you see trees down.
