Officials say the annual Oktoberfest celebration at Riverparks will continue today, just hours after a storm that ripped a massive tent off the ground, injuring more than 20 people -- one critically. Officials told NewsChannel 8 21 people were transported to area hospitals. One person was in critical condition, six were in serious condition and 14 in fair condition. Several others may have been transported by private vehicle.

The storms blew through at about 7:30 p.m. as a corporate event was taking place. NewsChannel 8 General Manager Pat Baldwin was at the corporate event going on at Oktoberfest and says a sudden wind gust came in from the west and lifted the tent off the ground. He says the injuries that were sustained likely came from the tent poles that were ripped out of the ground.

Oktoberfest organizers say they have four areas that can open up today. They were at the scene all night, trying to make repairs to one tent. They say the tent company is supposed to bring in poles to fortify the collapsed tent.

Organizers say they knew about the weather forecasts and thought the winds and storm would pass. Rain and hail made the situation worse and came so quickly that no one had time to prepare.

Even the organizer, Michael Sanders, said it caught him off guard and sent him running for shelter that couldn't hold up.

"Then, all of a sudden, when that wind came up, that tent collapsed and it was incredible. People were running out at the same time, people started helping people with each other."

They do have evacuation plans for each tent, but most people were making a mad dash to their cars. But, there were problems there as well, with several cars stuck in mud.

Oktoberfest is expected to open today at 5 p.m.