CoastersRZ Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 As the Anderson High School alma mater starts out "By the fair Ohio`s waters, Stong and staunch and bold." The Ohio River is above flood stage. Coney just posted some pictures of the flood to their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/coneyislandpark Lake Como has grown by several feet, with the island in the center of the lake under water. (It would be hard to launch any pedal boats off of the pedal boat dock, since it is under a few feet of water. The river is forecasted to crest at 56.3 feet. Flood stage is 52'. The last observed river level was 52.84 at 2pm. http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=iln&gage=ccno1 Remember, this is one of the reasons that Taft Broadcasting decided to "close" Coney down and build Kings Island. Hopefully the water goes down quickly, so that we can start to get ready for the 2015 season. There are two new rides on the way to Coney this year. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Meanwhile, upstream, very heavy rains are forecast in the basin... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 They are now saying 58 feet will be the flood crest. The highest flood since the flood of 1997. Enough of a flood to completely submerge all of Coney under at least some water. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 And those heavy rains upstream may delay the receding or even contribute to a higher than expected crest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Coney added some more photos of the flooding to their Facebook page. River is expected to crest tomorrow morning. Entrance to River Runner is under water. The flood waters have almost reached the administration building. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieseltech20 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Wow. It cannot be easy nor cheap to recover from this over and over again. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 See also Knoebel's Grove Amusement Resort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricsun Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 How do parks in flood plains, such as Coney Island, prepare for floods? I tried to look for this and found a few things on it - moving electric boxes and removing carousal horses. (If there is a detailed post on it that I missed, just point me in the right direction.) But what about the rides themselves? I've never been to CI so are they permanent or do they get removed to storage every year? I know they can withstand rain and snow but being submerged under standing water seems like a different beast. I would assume that such parks have become accustomed to the work and budgeted for the expense of dealing with the aftermath of flodding. But that certainly must add a degree of difficulty in planning for improvements and future development. Or am I just overthinking it? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 You are not overthinking. Some things can be built to be relatively floodproof--but at much greater initial expense. See, for instance, Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia. Backwaters are one thing...the floodway--with its high velocity currents and dangers associated with them--is another. Flooding and lack of space at Coney Island of Ohio were two major factors why that park first closed and why Kings Island exists today. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 The mighty Ohio crested 0600 this morning at Cincinnati. http://www.wtrf.com/story/28522741/ohio-river-crests-at-highest-level-since-97-hazards-remain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Yep. The river crested this morning and has begun its slow retreat to the normal banks. I can shed some light on how things are done at Coney. Some rides, like the Carousel, are taken apart. The horses are actually moved to the second level of Moonlight Gardens, so it would take a really big flood to affect them. (In the flood of 1937, some of the carousel horses on the PTC Carousel that is now at KI wound up down river as far as Paducah, KY). Some of the electrical boxes on the rides are removed at the end of the season, in case of flooding such as this. Or if there are buildings, Coney will typically cut the electrical supply to those buildings before the water can get into the electric system. Over at the pool, most of the lounger chairs are actually loaded onto semi trailers at the end of the season. Normally these trailers will sit in the parking lot, or are moved in the Coney owned lot across the street from Kellogg. Since these are already loaded onto the trailers, it makes them easy to move in the event of a flood. Once the waters go down, then the cleanup can begin. The later in the spring a flood happens, the harder it is for Coney. Back in 2011, the last time that the rider got up to 55'. it actually crested in mid to late April. We start hiring and doing ride trainings in late April. We got our first training in,and the mechanics had started to set up the rides for the season. Due to the flood, they had to undo some of their work, and we had to cancel some trainings, and that year they had to cancel the Appalachian Festival in May because the park wasn`t cleaned up and ready for visitors yet. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilotank Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Yeah, as much as I am a huge proponent to return Coney to it's glory days (circa 1970), to deal with the flooding year after year has to take it's toll. Since Belterra Park also had to shut down, maybe some type of flood control could be implemented. Probably a flood wall would be the easiest, but very expensive. pilotank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 The park is starting to look great again. The new TopSpin ride is installed and looking sharp. Several rides have received paint jobs, including the Turtle Parade and Racing Rockets. The rides will be open next weekend as part of the Appalachian Festival. Official opening day is on Saturday, May 23. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Welcome back, Married Man! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilotank Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 The park is starting to look great again. The new TopSpin ride is installed and looking sharp. Several rides have received paint jobs, including the Turtle Parade and Racing Rockets. The rides will be open next weekend as part of the Appalachian Festival. Official opening day is on Saturday, May 23. Yes, Congratulations! What was nice is the placement of the rides. Right where the midway use to be. pilotank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Thanks for the congratulations. I have the privilege of riding TopSpin over the weekend. It is a fun little ride. Definitely packs quite a bunch. It will be a nice addition to Coney. The ride hasn`t officially opened yet, but will be ready when the season kicks off on May 23rd. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voicetek Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I'll be down at Coney Island this weekend for the Autism Walk. It's been a few years since I've been down there, so I'm excited to check out the park again! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I'll find some excuse to get out there this summer. I likely won't make it to Balloon Glow for the first time in 3 or 4 years as I'm taking off June 21st for the Weird Al concert in Dayton and the 30th for my birthday, and with the 4th falling on a weekend this year we'll likely be busy that weekend at work. Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Voicetek, How did you enjoy Coney today for the Autism walk? I spent a lot of time out at TopSpin today. It seemed to be a big favorite of the riders. Did you get to ride it? What were your thoughts on it if you did? For those wondering, check out the Coney 2015 thread for some pictures and a brief video I took today of TopSpin in action: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/30101-2015-at-coney-island/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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