Nine hours after Blue Origin sent another aircraft to the edge of space and back with a safe landing, the spacecraft's owner sent a heartfelt tweet about deaths from a tornado earlier that morning that took the lives of his employees.
And social media blasted off on Jeff Bezos, the Amazon executive whose company lost six employees in the powerful storm that swept southern and midwestern states late Friday night and into Saturday morning.
The storm that dropped an estimated 38 tornadoes ripped apart an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois—which is just east of St. Louis. The warehouse collapse resulted in six deaths, according to the latest reports Saturday. Another person was airlifted to a local hospital and 45 others made it out of the building safely.
The powerful storm wreaked havoc from northern Arkansas and into Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and other places in the Missouri Valley. The overall death toll is expected to be above 100, with most coming in western Kentucky.
Meanwhile on Saturday morning in Texas, Blue Origin sent six passengers into space. The 60-minute flight went to the edge of space and safely parachuted back to Earth, carrying four paying flight members along with ex-NFL star Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father was famed astronaut Alan Shepard.
Strahan and Shepard Churchley were "honorary guests," according to Blue Origin, which is owned by Bezos.
The flight took off around 9 a.m. CT from Texas. It went supersonic speed to go 60 miles above the planet in just 10 minutes. Then, it slowly descended back, landing around 10 a.m., or 11 a.m. ET.
At 8:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, after a full day's worth of activities that included the landing of Blue Origin, the Army-Navy game, the Heisman Trophy presentation and rising body count from the deadly storm, Bezos sent a tweet that stated he was heartbroken about his employees dying in the storm.
"The news from Edwardsville is tragic. We're heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones," Bezos tweeted. "All of Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side through this crisis. We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site."
For those who follow Bezos on Twitter, it seemed to be too little and too late.
Wow. Heartfelt. What template was that in Office365?
— Fred Pandrok (@fredpandrok) December 12, 2021
Jeff you really need to be saying how much you are going to give to aid those families... instead or alone with the usual corporate line. 💯👍🏾
— Reginald L. Sanders (@reglarge777) December 12, 2021
"Jeffy you should be stating something like: On Monday I'll sell 1 billion(or more) worth of stock to help all the people affected by this tragedy," wrote another.
"Why did it take so long for all the PR firms to approve this tweet. Too little. Too late," one person wrote.
Literally a day late and a dollar short.
— Steven Smith (@scubawho) December 12, 2021
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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