Splashin' Safari flooded

Paula if I lived closer or had more time off, I would help any way I could free of charge.

Chuck, who feels he owes HW something for some reason :)

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Richard Bannister said:
A question about damage from someone who doesn't know much about this; surely the damage from a water park being under water is not going to be that severe given that it's clearly designed to be wet? Or am I missing something blindingly obvious?

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One word, MUD and tons of it. Probably all water and filter systems will have to be drained and cleaned.

Chuck, who's seen Cincinnati's Coney cleanup many times and its a mess, Who would think you have to hose things off?

So the cleanup progresses... I had some flooding in my home too (Detroit area), though surely not as much clean-up as the park. Too bad mud wrestling isn't a "family" sport! Flood or not, I will be there Saturday and cannot wait to go back (definitely my fav park).

Here's hoping that front doesn't stay stalled out over the Ohio Valley or they may see more flooding.

That danged front stalled in a line from Chicago through Detroit and is what caused all the flooding in Gurnee and the Detroit area.

Mother nature isn't being very kind this year.

On the bright side, the lakes need this water. Maybe Sandcastle Suites will someday again have a usable beach.

Hey all here's a TR,

After work this morning I headed on over to take a quick trip through the park to see how bad the flooding was. Mrs. Koch was there meeting with every school bus of kids that were coming to the park to explain that Splashin' Safari was closed and everyone with a ticket was given a complimentary readmission ticket for some other day in the season.

Wanting to see how bad it really was down in Splashin' Safari I headed for a ride on the Legend. After a train wait I was heading up the lift hill and the mess was noticeable. All of the pools including The Wave, Monsoon Lagoon, Watubee, Zinga, Zoombabwe, Ottorongo Bamboo Chute and the Congo River were no longer sparkling blue but were mud brown. There was a whole army of people down there hosing the mud away or picking up debris.

After the Legend I walked on over to near Splashin' Safari's entrance and even Frightful Falls was closed and the layer of mud and muck was being sprayed away. I hopped on the tilt-a whirl and flyers while trying to see what I could and ran into several friends at the park who let me know that in places the mud was half a foot thick.

Heading back home I stopped by the Raven and grabbed a quick back seat ride just in time to get off of it as the park was closing a few rides down due to lightening and as of now we're in the middle of another thunderstorm and there's more and more projected over the day.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari and hopefully this mess can be quickly cleaned up and that the rain stays away.

If you're interested I snapped a few pictures and they're here on my blog: http://www.negative-g.com/downhill/pivot/entry.php?id=548

Have Fun!

Paul Drabek

Paula, I hope that things get cleaned up soon and nothing was really damaged. I find it amazing that HW is giving away admission tickets for another day... Well, maybe not because HW is so friendly, but still... Best of luck to the HW family.

Sad pictures to see. But it sounds (and looks) like they have a good cleap-up effort underway, so I'm sure things will be back to normal in a few days.

What park aside from Holiday World would give out passes to use later in the season? Such class.

I tried two different browsers and can't access the pictures.

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john peck said:
So does it flood a lot there or is this once in a blue moon sort of thing?

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Will Koch has lived here all his life, and he's never seen anything remotely like this.

The official report from the weather service is we received nearly 4 inches in 70 minutes yesterday evening.

Paula

Paula - Since it was a flash flood I'm sure it must have Will, you, and the gang thinking [and worried] about the possibility of this happening again during operating hours, regardless of how rare the event was. If you can talk about it has their been any discussion about trying to prevent another occurance? New storm drains or a stream diversion, perhaps?

Curious....

mOOSH

Matthew I'm certain that everyone over at the park is way too busy cleaning up from the mess right now Moosh. Besides it's extremely rare to get as much rain in as short of a time as we did yesterday.

Have Fun!

Paul Drabek

Moosh, Moving or changing mother nature isn't the easiest of things to do.

I do know adding rip rap (Large stones) to streams can cut down on errosion but what can ya do about a deluge?

Also this mostly occurs durring thunderstorm conditions in which splashin safari would be closed anyhow.

My thoughts are with HW and I hope damage is minimal and not overly serious as flash floods are known for uprooting houses and cars.

Chuck

i was over at the park this morning for a little while...

it's strange to see brown water in the wave pool and lazy river. but it appears that the clean up efforts are moving along well.

what a fantastic statement though to the public to give free tickets for another day! i know there were several school groups there (there have been tons of kids at the park all week). i'm sure that the kids will happily head home and tell mom and dad that they got a free ticket to come back over the season since the water park was closed. think any of those kids might bring their parents back with them?

the people at HW made a very smart move. not only did they make a bad situation into an optimistic one but this decision may also increase attendance by several hundred people.

This link should work for the pictures....
http://www.negative-g.com/downhill/

Thought you'd like to see the news release I'm sending out as we speak:A crew of 80 Holiday World & Splashin' Safari employees spent the day Wednesday cleaning up mud and debris at Splashin' Safari in the aftermath of Tuesday evening’s flash flood. “Nearly four inches of rain hit us in just over an hour,” says Holiday World & Splashin' Safari president Will Koch. “I’ve lived here all my life – I’ve never seen anything like this.” Tuesday evening’s torrential downfall sparked a flash flood, which covered parts of the water park with up to three feet of water. “Inner tubes and deck chairs were everywhere,” says Koch. “It was an incredible mess. But our employees literally dug in and made a lot of progress cleaning up today.” The cleaning process includes pumping muddy water out of all the pools, cleaning them, and refilling them with fresh water. In addition, all the electric motors and pumps in the water park must be dried out, and their seals replaced. Splashin' Safari will remain closed on Thursday, as the clean-up continues. Koch is optimistic at least a portion of Indiana’s largest water park will reopen Friday morning. Koch says Holiday World continues to be open daily. All non-season pass admissions to Holiday World on Thursday will include a free ticket to return when both parks are open. Updates regarding Splashin' Safari will be posted on the parks’ homepage: www.holidayworld.com.

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That's all for now--

Paula :)

Good to hear such progress has bene made in a relatively short amount of time. Best of luck to everyone that is "digging in."

These storms are HUGE! There are now tornados in Knoxville and Richmond according to the Weather Channel, they're moving into NC and I'm getting somewhat nervous. I love thinderstorms, but these are just incredible!

Update...

Rained like crazy again last night, but no more damage was done.

Here's the latest news release:Indiana’s largest water park is expected to reopen early Saturday afternoon. Splashin' Safari has been closed since a flash flood raged through the 11-acre water park and filled it with mud and debris Tuesday evening. “Actually, it’s been a gratifying couple of days,” says Holiday World & Splashin' Safari president Will Koch. “Our employees have worked together tirelessly to get this park back in shape for our guests in time for the Memorial Day weekend.” The cleaning process included pumping muddy water out of all the pools, cleaning them, and refilling them with fresh water. In addition, all the electric motors and pumps in the water park had to be dried out, and their seals replaced. At one point Tuesday evening, parts of the water park were under three feet of flood water. Splashin' Safari will remain closed on Friday, as the clean-up is completed. Koch is optimistic most of the water park will reopen early Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Holiday World continues to be open daily. All non-season pass admissions to Holiday World on Friday will include a free ticket to return when both parks are open. Updates regarding Splashin' Safari will be posted on the parks’ homepage: www.holidayworld.com.

Thanks for all the good wishes! Paula

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the ever-curious Mamoosh said: New storm drains or a stream diversion, perhaps?

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The drainage throughout our parks has been designed by engineers. This was a once-in-a-lifetime storm--there's really no concern it will happen again.

Paula