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.