COLUMBIA, Md. — As severe weather moved through the DMV, a large crowd of people waited for a concert at a Maryland amphitheater to begin Wednesday night. However, as water began coming through the roof above, the show was the least of the crowd's concerns.
Pop star Halsey was scheduled to take the stage at the Merriweather Post Pavilion Amphitheater in Columbia, Maryland at 7 p.m. but severe weather forced the venue to delay the show.
"The Halsey show has been delayed due to weather - please stay tuned to social media for updates on when the show will restart this evening. Thank you," the venue said on Twitter around 7:30 p.m.
Just before 8 p.m. National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Warning and for Howard County, where the venue is located. Not long afterward, NWS issued a Tornado Warning for the county as well.
"I was scared when the tornado warning happened because tornadoes are obviously bad," said Shea Bartlett. "It was an open pavilion, but that didn’t feel safe.”
As people sat in their seats in the amphitheater, videos show water started pouring from the roof and running down the stairs.
"The way that the roof works inside the pit area, it all started running off the roof," said Lauren Impallaria. "Then it start downpouring on all the people who have seats inside it was kind of crazy.”
People took to Twitter to share videos of the flooding that seemed to overtake the venue.
At 9 p.m. the venue tweeted that the show would resume at 9:30 p.m. A decision many on social media disagreed with.
However, as people made their way back to the venue, one Twitter user said her brother-in-law cut his leg trying to return, concert-goers continues to wait for the show to start only to learn nearly 20 minutes later that it had been canceled.
"The Halsey show will not be happening due to weather-related technical difficulties," the venue said in a statement posted to Facebook and Twitter. "Please keep an eye out for an email from Ticketmaster for more info, or refer to your point of purchase."
Many began demanding the amphitheater refund tickets immediately.
An estimated 13,000 people were in attendance Wednesday night, according to the Howard County fire chief.
According to the purchase policy listed on the Ticketmaster website, if an event is canceled the entertainment company will issue a refund to the original method of payment used to purchase the tickets once funds are received from the "Event Organizer."
Halsey took to Twitter following the cancellation, saying she would post something soon to explain what happened.
"But right now I'm heartbroken and panicked and I just want to know when/that you all get home safely," the singer said. "I love you guys more than anything."
She also added that it wouldn't have been safe for the audience to have her just walk out, explaining that if anyone ran towards the stage or rushed it a lot of people could have gotten hurt.
An hour after her initial tweet, Halsey expressed her disappointment with how the venue handled things and said she would be rescheduling her show at a different venue.
A day after the canceled concert, Howard County officials addressed some of the concerns during a press conference.
“We’ll certainly do an assessment and work with [the venue] for future events to make sure that we have the proper safety measures in place as we go forward,” said Howard County Fire Chief Louis Winston.