It's crazy because one of their family members is a receptionist at my wife's work. Needless to say no one got any work done today. What do you say to someone who found out half their family tree was wiped out in one day?

Wow. Was that person one of the survivors, or were they not present?

She was not present. It was both of her aunt/uncles and their kids. But it's the worst thing imaginable. Oh my family is in Branson that's crazy I'm sure they are alright what are the odds they are on that specific boat? Wait I can't get a hold of them. Wait were they on the boat? That can't be...

The article says it is an aunt and her nephew who survived. She lost her own kids and husband, so I have to imagine she'll take the nephew in. I can only hope that some combination of life insurance and lawsuit payouts will at least set them up for life.

But still. I mean...

I used to beach the fishing boat on Riss Lake when lightning and high winds hit.

The Ducks have a responsibility to protect their passengers and if they were told of 60 mph winds anywhere near the time window and went into the lake then there is negligence. If the storm, like in the IN stage collapse, hit early and at more than twice the force as forecasted, it may just turn into lawyers missing in the wind.

I have no reservations about taking a duck out on the lake, as I have done many times, but wouldn't consider one anything but a fair weather vessel.

So let's say these boats were made with floating roofs that are designed to come off if the boat sinks. Do you think most people would live in that case? If so that seems like a pretty simple fix to me.

I saw a report with a meteorologist talking about the storm. They said they were tracking the storm, a typical Midwest thunderstorm, and they had time to finish and be docked by the time it arrived. Unfortunately, the report said the winds preceded the storm, as you can see in the video, it's not raining yet. These winds developed extremely quickly and were way more intense and don't show up on radar. The reporter said the rains didn't come until 5-10 minutes after the event and they would have had plenty of time to dock based on radar. The actual rain and thunderstorm only lasted a few minutes. Don't know the validity of this, but it makes some sense. Very sad deal.

Even if this was the case..they are still cutting it close which is inexcusable especially on a ride that typically has a lot of kids on board

Me my wife and kids have ridden the ducks before in Branson..it's a nice ride even before the lake..they could have simply said due to incoming weather they can't get into the water and i'm sure the passengers would have been completely fine with it

Grew up on the water. Grew up being taught the saying "if there's any doubt, you don't go out" period! Total negligence on the part of the company/captain.

Depends on the people. Their age, their physical stamina, their swimming ability, and their ability to avoid the freeze part of flight, fight, or freeze while in a crisis. Generally speaking, it would be a better option to have a removable roof to avoid the trapping effect that occurs with these "boats". On this particular vessel, there were a bunch of elderly, very young, and African Americans who historically have a higher chance of being poor swimmers(and anybody can **** off with any racism claims, look it up). Very likely most who died may have died anyway.

The interview with the gal that one of the two survivors that lost 9 family members is pretty damning if you ask me. Not only did the Duck captain tell them they didn't need their live vests on, she also said that the Duck departed straight to the lake instead of taking the normal route in order to get this ride in before the storm. Which means the company was aware of the weather and wanted to cash in one more load of riders before the storm came.

^ They were also kept being told to stay seated all the way to the very end.

Yeah, I have been hearing the same thing from a lot of different sources. The owner of this outfit is in some deep doo-doo.

I hope the Duck Boat company doesn't go under after they get sued for this act of negligence.

:facepalm:

Would have had a much better chance to have them abandon ship with life vests on several minutes earlier.

I bet they get swamped with lawsuits....

It’s gonna attract trial attorneys like ducks to water.

Nice.

That one sure did, literally came up and it was crazy in no time. Neighbors trees down, lots of trees down on the road over to our boat.

It got real in no time. I have a friend that drives one of those duck boats and was glad to see it wasn't him.

A real tragedy for those involved and their families.

The reasons that Ripley's Duck Rides of Branson will go under is because of the newness of the purchase (debt load), lack of cash flow caused by reduced ridership, and terms set by the lenders. There are PA attorneys who don't like the Duck boats who are seeking/ promoting their expertise seeking paychecks from the Branson drowning and the banning of duck boats as an industry.

The parent company of "Ride the Ducks" is the Ripley's World Records people but surely are a separate identity from the Duck boats for liability reasons.

Other duck boat claims with other operators have involved blatant misconduct. See below.

Remember that a company of this type and size should have a very large liability policy and an insurance company with deep pockets to defend itself.

I think that when the smoke clears that most claims settle for modest amounts and if any claims make it to court that Ripley Entertainment is cleared of wrongdoing in the form of wrongful death or criminal charges this denying punitive damages.

There will be attorneys (Robert J. Mongeluzzi has Andrew R. Duffy promoting the $17M settlement in the barge/ duck deaths in PA.) who will be bringing huge claims against the Ducks. I MHO they will get nowhere in the MO courts unless the Ducks failed to follow set procedures that were surely set by NHTS, coast guard and MO Highway Patrol.

The Deleware river duck boat settlement was based upon the actions of a barge pilot when he failed to avoid collision with a Duck that had entered the barge traffic lanes. I would assume the the barge owners paid most of the claim as the political got a year in jail and licence revoked.

"The driver of the tugboat, in the Delaware River incident, that was guiding the barge was charged with manslaughter after it was determined he had been distracted by his laptop and cellphone "for an extended period of time prior to the collision."

The Hot Springs drowning were mechanical as far as the cause.

"An NTSB investigation concluded that inadequate maintenance caused the vessel to sink. The boat took on water due to a loose rubber boot and began to sink."

Unless there is a smoking gun the Branson incident will just be a tragedy not a monetary windfall of tens of millions of dollars. The 1st case above was reported as a $17MM settlement for 2 wrongfull deaths and the injuries of others.

The sudden wind shears that appear before storms seems to be more prevalent recently. One hit in IN last month that caused huge amounts of damage and caused 48 hour power outages. The winds struck 20 minutes before forecasted.

Glad your friend was not involved. Have you spoke to him about this?

Maybe the weather bureau should put the warning out before the actual storm to account for the pre-winds.

I have not, we really aren't in touch much this last year since I moved on from the rehab class we were in and I am sure he is devastated. I doubt if he wants anyone bringing it up and asking him questions right now.

I truly believe the winds here at my house were well above 60mph, maybe closer to 70. I have a lot of trees and am sure glad I keep them trimmed up.

They did..it's called a severe thunderstorm warning which they were under. That means get indoors and stay indoors and it most certainly means don't take a duck boat with 30+ people including children onto the lake. High winds are a part of severe thunderstorms and they tend to hit before the storm itself does. Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued for large hail and/or very high winds..they don't just issue them for thunder and lightning.

Everything I've read says that they were already on the water when the warning issued.

Those same frontline winds/storm front hit Manhattan KS shortly after 2:00 pm and were clocked at 83 mph. We were put in a severe thunderstorm warning 30 minutes prior to the winds hitting us. People that are supposed to be aware of weather should have heard of the damages coming from the west related to this storm.

The warning was out well before they hit the water..a watch was out most of the day

Maybe. However, I was responding to the person who was insinuating that they entered the water AFTER the warning was issued.

Link that shit up then, because you are wrong.

Weather warnings are also very hit and miss these days. It's really crazy how it looks like an area is going to get hammered and it disappates before it get there but then the next storm wreaks havoc on the same area.

Neither one of those state that the boat entered the water after the warning was issued.

It was a beautiful day and it came out of nowhere. We were not aware of any warnings here at all .

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshal...ut-of-nowhere/

Yep, just popped out of nowhere. National Weather Service wasn’t tracking it all when it formed in northwest Kansas and Cental Nebraska and traveled towards Branson. Total negligence on the ride operators.

Damn

Al Alonzo was at his home about five minutes north of Branson when he saw the weather report shortly after 6 p.m. It said there was a storm coming and it would hit the area about 7 p.m.

By 6:30 p.m. Alonzo, 66, was watching small barbecue grills and lawn chairs getting blown over by strong winds. He helped some ladies in his neighborhood get inside and told them to hunker down.

His son told him that, shortly before 7 p.m., he saw a duck boat headed for the lake.

The wind was coming in strong and the water was choppy.

“They’re not going in, are they?” Alonzo said. “I don’t think they’d be going in when it’s like this.”

By Friday morning Alonzo had heard what happened to the boat.

“They went in,” he said. “Stupid, I can’t understand that.”

Overloaded and underpowered in high waves is a recipe for disaster. Lake was probably calmer when they went in, they tried to beat the storm.

I sure wasn't aware of it, but obviously they should have been.

I had all of my family here and we were eating, drinking and enjoying the evening.

For us, it came out of nowhere, but obviously those paying attention to media should have known about it according to this information you provided.

"Steve Paul, owner of the Test Drive Technologies inspection service in the St. Louis area, said he issued a written report for the company in August 2017. It explained why the boats' engines - and pumps that remove water from their hulls - might fail in inclement weather"

Reported by AP

Do you think that this defect was disclosed to Ripley and was documented as part of the sale or did Ripley not know that the bilge system needed upgrading?

This may open up the food chain to the past owners.

Do your own ****ing research it’s not that hard

Nope, will go with what is written on a fan message board by people who don’t have a clue what the hell they are writing and/or arguing about. Please, get with the program. If not bring out the ban hammer. Better to ban them than be proven wrong.

Whoever made the decision to go out in that weather deserves all the punishment that can be legally dished out.

Ultimately it is the boat operator.

Something doesn't add up here. It's 6.3 miles from the duck's home on 76 to the Branson Belle, which is right about where it sank. That's at least a 15 minute drive. This guy lives 5 minutes north of Branson and his son saw them headed for the lake "shortly before seven". How is it possible that they got in the water and then sank at 7:09?

Are you suggesting that I would ban him in order to win an argument?

Are you suggesting that is a non-ban able offense?

Ummm, sure.

This is getting weird.

I read the story on this inspector and his quotes. If what he says can be verified I’ll be surprised if there are any duck boats left in business in their current form.

He was on the news the other day. Steve inspected the equipment before Ripley Entertainment made the purchase. He said the exhaust ports were located in the front of the boat. He said the he exhaust can’t exit before the passengers and also water could enter through those exhaust in rough water and stall the engines.

It's blueballs. Of course it's getting weird.

That's blueballs? Hell, I can't keep up anymore.

I see exhaust going up and over the roofline in some pics but not in this pic of a Branson Duck. Refitting bilge pumps would not be a big deal and with canopies the water taken on would be minimal.

NTSB former head issues statement but Hall appeared to do nothing concrete while holding position.

Who knows, maybe his son in the BB area and was telling him this on the phone. That's what I figured considering the distance involved.

You should do it now just because. ROFL

blueballs is an enigma

https://da4pli3l5vc0d.cloudfront.net...ba7095250d4d73


This woman is prob the only gofundme I'd ever contribute to.

Just heartbreaking. What a hell of a funeral that's going be to sit through. ****

A Go Fund Me account started to help out the Coleman family already raised more than $300,000.

Friend of mine works for Cox Hospital in Branson where seven of the victims were taken. He was going home from a shift during the storm, but worked the following day (Friday). He had nothing but praise for his co-workers, and he said he cried like a baby after his shift on Friday. The story that most broke his heart was the 13 year old Coleman that survived. He was talking about the last time he saw his brother (one of the four Coleman kids that died).

I had a classmate who worked a majority of her time as an ER doctor in Florida. She never gave details, but there were times when cases were particularly hard to handle when she would vent a little. People often complain about doctors and such in the medical profession, but, whenever situations like these arise, they step up and get the job done regardless of the emotional toll it might take later.

Kudos to those individuals (doctors, nurses, and staff).

I used to date an ER MD and while it was rewarding work it left scars. Those who rose to such an occasion on Thurday will be scared by what they dealt with for ever.
My hat is off to both those who died but those who served..

How did the Taney County Morque manage 17 corpses?

Did the captain go down with his ship?

The driver died, but the captain survived.

But the driver went by the nickname Captain.

Maybe there was a quack in the hull. Too soon?

Hopefully the judge in this case hits the company with a Mallard.

Almost to $470,000 now. If anybody is interested....

https://www.gofundme.com/branson-duck-boat-survivor

I live in Branson about 1.5 miles away from where it took place.

I looked out my window and saw that storm coming in. My first impression was it looked very different from normal storms and was worried about it producing a tornado. From the time I spotted it, and the time it hit, there was about 8-10 minutes. If I had of been out on the water in my boat, I would of headed in immediately. Although the storm came in very quickly, there was time to get off the water.

Yes.

No.
Posted via Mobile Device

Not AFLAC as I know.

How fast is your boat?

https://www.gofundme.com/table-rock-cares

Here’s another one. Anybody else impressed by the family of nine on the duck and they all survived.

My mom ran the Operating Room Nursing Staff at Trinity Lutheran Hospital at 31st and Main in KC. It was the closest trauma center when the skywalks collapsed at the Crown Center Hyatt. She was called in that night to triage the patients. I think they got about 30 of the victims. It was really ghastly. We didn't see her for three days, she worked almost non stop for 72 hours, and she never wanted to talk about it. We understood.

The Ducks website is pretty contrite right now:
http://bransonducks.com/

^ After reading that it seems most of the expenses are taken care of.

Seems like they're good now.