Recording artist Lizzo performs at the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl Party. (Photo: Scott Roth, Scott Roth/Invision/AP)
Harry Styles and Lizzo were slotted to perform ahead of the Super Bowl at the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl party on Friday but Mother Nature had other plans.
The concert was evacuated after severe thunderstorms began to roll through the city, flooding the venue. Pepsi said on Twitter that the Miami Fire Department ordered all fans to leave and that the concert had been canceled, even though it had already started.
Fans evacuated the show’s venue at Meridian Island in Miami, where Styles was meant to be the headliner, according to a release from Pepsi. Lizzo, who was a special guest, had already begun performing. Mark Ronson was also a special guest.
The National Weather Service Miami-South Florida had tweeted that there was a severe thunderstorm warning in the area through 3 a.m. and later updated the news of the severe weather at 11:20 p.m.
“Thunderstorms will intensify across the metro areas of Miami-Dade County over the next hour or so. Wind gusts to 70 mph and brief isolated tornadoes will be possible. Please stay weather aware!” they wrote.
Miami Fire Rescue wrote on Twitter that their Division of Emergency Management was monitoring the current and expected conditions in the county. They were expecting potentially hazardous weather overnight with “thunderstorms, gusty winds to 60mph, heavy rainfall, small hail and isolated tornadoes possible.”
Styles also took to Twitter to address his fans around midnight after he wasn’t allowed onstage after the fire department canceled the show.
“To those of you here in Miami, I was told there’s a severe storm on the way,” he wrote. “The fire department would not let us do the show under any circumstances. Please stay safe. I’m so disappointed, and I’m sorry. I love you all. H”
To those of you here in Miami, I was told there’s a severe storm on the way.
The fire department would not let us do the show under any circumstances. Please stay safe.
I’m so disappointed, and I’m sorry.
I love you all. H
According to the Mirror, fans were evacuating in muddy fields with water up to their knees.
Local meteorologist Brandon Orr tweeted a video of the conditions.
⚡ Lizzo, Mark Ronson, & Harry Styles were performing at the Meridian Island Gardens on Watson Island last night. Severe t-storms moved into Miami and shut the concert down. This is what people walked into just outside the venue.
?: @Mariah_moreno14pic.twitter.com/jKnvZk9MHD
Attendees of the concert were not amused by the situation. Twitter user @sighnatasha called it “fyre fest 2.0.” Another user, @ClaireOrihuela, also compared the situation to Fyre Festival. “At least the people at FYRE festival got sandwiches.”
And some even refused to leave, according to another tweet containing a video from Joel Franco.
Others took to Twitter to start a movement: Sue Pepsi.
EVERYONE at the pepsi show has the right to sue and i hope everyone does this is not right
User @chalakissy created a list of reasons that people should sue and shared it on Twitter.
“1) pepsi banned portable chargers and made people throw theirs out so now peoples phones are dying while they are trying to find help
2) people are being charged $300+ for ubers
3) ubers are the only way out to get off the island unless you want to walk across a bridge #SUEPEPSI.”
1) pepsi banned portable chargers and made people throw theirs out so now peoples phones are dying while they are trying to find help
2) people are being charged $300+ for ubers
3) ubers are the only way out to get off the island unless you want to walk across a bridge#SUEPEPSI
Pepsi wrote on Twitter around 1 a.m. that the evacuation was mandatory across all special event venues in the city and apologized. They said they were focused on evacuating attendees safely.
After announcing the evacuation, Pepsi took to Twitter again to make another announcement.
The company said it would begin issuing refunds for tickers and for ride share costs incurred during the evacuation.
“To all attendees at the Pepsi Planet Zero Sugar Party, we have notified Ticketmaster and all refunds will be automatically issued to the method of payment used to make your purchase. We will also cover ride share costs from the show. Those details are on the way,” they wrote in the tweet.
To all attendees at the Pepsi Planet Zero Sugar Party, we have notified Ticketmaster and all refunds will be automatically issued to the method of payment used to make your purchase. We will also cover ride share costs from the show. Those details are on the way.
USA TODAY reached out to Pepsi and to the Miami Fire Department for comment.
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