Blazing heat. No breeze. Thousands of sweaty kids and mosh-pits a mile long. This could only mean one thing: Warped Tour 2013.

Vans Warped Tour, which began in 1995, is an annual music festival—which starts in North America in mid June and ends in Europe in early December—and is known for featuring almost one hundred bands of all different calibers in the alternative and hardcore genre. This year, Warped Tour was held at the Cruzan Amphitheater on July 27, 2013. Spread out across the fairgrounds, Warped Tour is divided into a series of ten stages. This year in West Palm, main stage—the Kia Forte Stage—featured bands such as Black Veil Brides, Bring Me the Horizon, Sleeping With Sirens and The Wonder Years.

In the past, South Florida has been known to be one of the hottest stops on the tour. This year, however, Florida was remembered for a different reason altogether: its sporadic thunderstorms. Although the Warped Tour ticket clearly says “In rain or shine!” Florida put this statement to the test by greeting the crowds with a torrential downpour, complete with thunder and lightning.

Forced to stop the shows for safety reasons, the staff at the Cruzan relocated the thousands of people into the Cruzan Amphitheater to seek shelter from the rain.

The rain did not let up and resulted in heavy flooding throughout the fairgrounds, forcing dozens of Warped Tour tents to be torn down and relocated farther away from the water. The Monster Energy Stage—which had an inflatable roof—was weighed down with so much rain that it took two hours and twenty various crew members armed with rakes to push it back up again.  Even with the precautionary evacuation to the amphitheater, lightning unfortunately struck one member of the Warped Tour crew.

Communications senior Angelic Edery rode in the ambulance with the victim after she was relocated from the first aid tent to get out of the rain.

“It was really crazy,” Edery said. “I was just sitting in the back of the ambulance while the guy just laid there and had spasms. It was pretty scary.”

After about three hours of intense rain, Florida finally relented and the shows went on. All bands were delayed—some even cancelled for the day—but Warped Tour went on.

“You guys are one of the craziest crowds I’ve ever seen,” Craig Owens, lead singer of the Chiodos said to the crowd directly after the rainstorm. “You waited through this rain for us. After this tour is over, I guarantee you that I’ll definitely remember this day the most.”