Ivan Visits Knoebels

There are Buffalo about a mile from Knoebels. Just head past their parking lot past the farm in the distance and stay on Pine Swamp Road at the "Y" make a lft and they are on the left at the top of the hill.

The very first entry made me laugh. I used to work parttime at an Ack-A-Me grocery store. Even funnier is the fact that my aunt, who had an Ack-A-Me of her own in Jersey City, calls it that to this day. Being nowhere near the Coal Region, I think she just likes to add vowels to words to make them sound cute. She refers to Carvel ice cream as "Car-A-Vel".

Ivan did it's damage to WV and parts of Southern Ohio. When driving up to CP Friday it was just horrible......baseball fields, houses, bridges, most interstate off-ramps.....all under water. Luckily Ivan moved east and not west towards Sandusky (unlucky for you guys though.....:-( For a while I thought parts of the interstate was going to submerge before we could make it out of Ivan's s**t list.

Our "creeks" were overflowing. Luckily the one out in front of my house didn't amount to much.

Man I can't wait to visit Knoebels again. My first and only visit was 3 years ago and I didn't get to experience the park at it's fullest.

-Tina

<-------who has a painful "crick" in my neck. ;-)

Overflowing cricks, creeks in necks... I have to get away from this thread! ;)

Your official Hershey update:
Overnight Friday into Saturday, the park and land surrounding Spring Creek received somewhere around 6 inches of rain. By sunrise Saturday, the Creek, which had been emptied in anticipation, rose to the highest level since the 1975 flood brought on by Heloise. Water in the Hollow rose to 2-3 feet in the area, around the bottom of the old Comet exit ramp. As another reference, it was about 3 inches over the Amphitheatre stage. Berks Hot Dog, Paddleboat Cafe, Country Grill, and Trailblazer Catering were all heavily damaged by water. The Creekside Catering area (below the dam, near the entrance) was gutted, with picnic tables and equipment ending up hundreds of yards downstream on the Parkview Golf Course. Motors on the Tilt and Trailblazer got wet and had to be changed.

On the other side of the park, a huge lake formed in the Tidal Force/Canyon/Roller Soaker area, damaging many motors and controls on the Tidal Force and Soaker.

All rides with the exception of the Tidal Force were open when the park reopened on Sunday morning, the last day of public operation for this season. This is thanks to the diligence and dedication of all of the Park's staff in doing what it takes to make it happen. Hershey learned a hard lesson in 1972 with Agnes and has been careful of approaching storms ever since.

I went down to the grove at around 9:30 saturday morning, and will post my pics when I get them back on Thursday (I forgot my digicam at home). I was there shortly after the peek flood level, which was a couple of feet higher than in coasterpunk's pics.

The full-time staff (and a few seasonals) did a great job getting the park back together. Despite the still-high water levels, they were able to open 9 of the rides at about 3PM, free of charge for the campers.

I went down yesterday afternoon, and the only signs of the flood was some residual mud on the walkways and railings. Everything was open and operating perfectly (with the exception of the Airbrush Studio, which was presumably too water-damaged to open)
Oh, if any of you are interested, some of the pics that Rick Knoebel took are hanging on the wall of the operations office (across from the handstamp building) under a sign that says "why you were called off yesterday:"

btw coasterpunk, isn't Shamokin Crik still about 50% sulfer? ;-) *** Edited 9/21/2004 6:23:33 AM UTC by Im a Grover*** *** Edited 9/21/2004 6:35:41 AM UTC by Im a Grover***

Thye ought to build special flood Water Systems around these parks... sure would save them a lot in insureance money. (Not that any of these parks are short on money! Im sure they have plenty).

Less than you think!

The amount that most parks don't flood, I don't think that would be money well spent. Knoebels really floods only once every five years or so.

I know the Shamokin Crick is alot cleaner than it was when I was younger but I still don't think I'd want to swim in it. I'm not sure what percentage of sulphher is in it now.

Grover where do you live? I'm guessing you must live in the same area as me.

The Shamokin Crick......I like that. Sounds like a great name for a log flume or water ride. ;-)

-Tina

If you would see the color of the water you would change your mind.

Athough I do like the sound of Dorneys log flume, Thunder "Crick" Mountain! ;)

I like the sound of the Cedar Crick Mine Ride. A subtle but pleasing change.

Got my pictures back today...you can see them at http://community.webshots.com/album/191224993JfAPTs?862

yep coasterpunk, I am a proud resident of the coal region, Mt. Carmel township to be exact-

It's amazing how much the water came down between our visits. I was there around 12:30-1.

Look at basicly the same shot only a few hours apart. HERE and HERE

The water came down at least 3 feet between our visits. I never would have guessed it was that high.

*** Edited 9/24/2004 1:42:56 AM UTC by coasterpunk***

Funny thing about flood water... it goes almost as quickly as it comes.

I guess Roaring Creek lived up to its name at least on Saturday. Amazing that anyone got there to take pictures at all-- how was 487? Many of the roads around Hershey were closed on Saturday and/or Sunday.

(Just for future reference, the "a" in Shamokin is silent, so it's really pronounced "Shmokin Crick.")

Ever resilient, Knoebels already has a sign posted near the Mini Golf entrance (with all the others) showing the high water mark from the 2004 flood.