Six Flags Over Georgia employees are hoping to have the park open Saturday as floodwaters recede.
Northern Georgia and metro Atlanta have been inundated with record-breaking rain the past few days, flooding and closing roads. At least seven people have died.
Six Flags employees are checking water levels and hope the park will be open the weekend before the annual Fright Fest starts. Fright Fest is Six Flags Over Georgia’s Halloween event. Six Flags Over Georgia’s communication director said the park has dealt with floods before, and employees know how to handle it.
The rainfall has closed portions of two highways near the park.
Some parts of Georgia have received more than a foot of rain in eight days.
For more, visit the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Aerial photos of the flooding at the park and elsewhere are available here.
Tags: amusement park, Atlanta, six flags, Six Flags Over Georgia
I'm not so sure they will reopen just yet. The heavy rains were too much to be able to clear out that quickly, and there might be more on the way. SFOG always floods with heavy rain. I just wish that I was around to get a picture of Mindbender under water, which happened the last time we got rain like this.
As many times as this has happened, (this is the third time I can recall myself), you'd think they would have figured out a way to prevent this.
Is that GASM under water? That doesn't look very good? How long has the water been that high? A few days?
It's going to take a lot more to clean that mess up then just a few days. Plus getting all the rides back up to code? Should be fun...
I heard that Ninja gets flooded a lot, is that true?
Scream Machine,Ninja, Mindbender, Batman,Wheelie, Lickskillet Sky Buckets station,Thomas Town, Entrance to Thunder River and the parking lot from what I have seen on tv are all under water.
I have updated the story with aerial photos that show the park and other areas in Georgia.
It's going to take a lot more to clean that mess up then just a few days. Plus getting all the rides back up to code? Should be fun...
I heard that Ninja gets flooded a lot, is that true?
The bad part is that Douglas County got the worst of it. It's a good thing I'm not home right now, but my family got caught up in it and my bedroom got some water in it.
This reminds me of seeing SFNO under water.
I wish they would let me pay extra and ride all the rides while they are under water today. That would be cool.
LOL. I love seeing the park flooded. I could see them opening by saturday because they don't really care how the parks look or how safe the rides are so i would not be the least bit suprised if it were open Sat.
That looks really bad. It took me awhile to figure that was not Cyclone but GASM! It's like Willy Wonka's factory had a break up river. I can imagine a lengthy cleanup. Hersheypark had to go through this before too by Comet and SooperDooperLooper in recent years.
^^^I don't see it happening. Even if they did, half of their rides would be closed. Batman, Mindbender, Wheelie, GASM, Ninja, Thomas Town, and several more have all been under water for at least 8 days. Most of the rides that are under water have moving parts completely submerged. Clearing the water out will take about 2-3 days, then inspecting will take another day or two, then replacing damaged parts will take another day, then testing, and before you know it, it's next Tuesday.
There is a lot more water there than you guys think there is. Mindbender has at least 20 feet of water over it, Wheelie is completely submerged to the point where you can barely see it, and not to mention that the entire parking lot and I-20 are completely under about 10 feet of water.
They are going to have a major problem with GASM. With all of that wood being submerged, it is soaking up a ton of water, which will then cause the wood to swell up, cause the bolts to squeeze it and crack the wood. The entire station is under water, everything will need replacing; the trains, control panels, brakes, etc.
From the looks of it in the photos GASM might be a total loss. Woodies don't handle floods as well as steel coasters.
I don't think GASM had much time left anyways.
SFOG might end up being another SFNO. The dang ceo could of used the money from the insurance to fix up SFNO. He just left it closed. To put it truefully, the Six Flags ceo needs to go. Heck, get rid of all the Six Flags suits. Lol.
A pic I ran across...
A pic I ran across...
Wes, I can't see the picture you posted...
At SFOG's Thomas Town only a play structure and two plastic photo props? have to be hosed off. I can imagine the damage to the train and the shop though. That might be the slight good in having such a small Thomas Town there.
A park employee on another web site said that the go carts where moved to higher ground and other flood preparations where done. He also said the train for Thomas was fine. I may go on Saturday if they open and I can get to the park.
A park employee isnt allowed to say anything about his or her park on any roller coaster fan sites. This is due to the fact that what he or she say's may not be true. I seen the pics of the park, and most of the rides are or were under water. The park will have to go though a very big clean up to get the park open. And most of the rides and coasters may need to be replaced or torn down for good. The state inspectors will have to inspect all of the rides for any problems.
I've downloaded a couple for my own personal records, and I think that's the one that wasn't on the link someone mentioned.
^I can see it now! I guess Six Flags doesn't realize just how deep GASM was under water. I'll give you a hint- it's at least 15 feet. There's no way they can get that much water out by Saturday.
That whole lower section should be closed and I bet the State should be there to inspect GASM.
I just hope the GASM proves to be a very resilient old coaster. Last thing we need to lose is another Allen Coaster.
From SFOG's Facebook feed:
Does this make GASM a water coaster?
GASM will be the 1% i guess that won't be open.
An Aquaman splash down coaster is coming to SFOG?
Here is a news article with a video of the park cleaning up.
Six Flags to Open Four Days After Flooding - 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA
I'm not surprised they moved the rides to higher ground. For the most part it will just be clean up and some restoration. Nothing terrible. The water is muddy not toxic so you won't have the problems seen at SFNO.
There is a lot more water there than you guys think there is. Mindbender has at least 20 feet of water over it, Wheelie is completely submerged to the point where you can barely see it, and not to mention that the entire parking lot and I-20 are completely under about 10 feet of water.
They are going to have a major problem with GASM. With all of that wood being submerged, it is soaking up a ton of water, which will then cause the wood to swell up, cause the bolts to squeeze it and crack the wood. The entire station is under water, everything will need replacing; the trains, control panels, brakes, etc.
More than that. I'll bet that parts of Cyclone, Scorcher, Dahlonega Mine Train, and more. Actually, the whole park's under water, with the exception of Carousel Hill. I guess this seals the Drive-In Theater's fate.
The bad part is that Douglas County got the worst of it. It's a good thing I'm not home right now, but my family got caught up in it and my bedroom got some water in it.
This reminds me of seeing SFNO under water.
Ok, maybe it's just your park, but it's evident from SFKK that they weren't trained properly when it comes to E-Stop and catastrophic accidents. So, maybe Six Flags has a good program at one park and crappy at another? Shouldn't there be chain wide policies about training and paying attention to rides?
Oh, I guess not, instead of hitting E-Stop when a cable came loose they pick up the phone and call someone. And for that mistake a girl lost her feet. (She got one re-attached thank god).
So, please don't act all high and mighty to regular posters on here. You are the newbie, don't go spouting off saying someone is wrong because what they post.
^ We all know every Six Flags is different in many ways. I know you were trying to prove your point, but SFKK's incident has nothing to do with anything here- comparing SFKK to SFoG is like apples to oranges. Anyone at any park could be caught off-guard and not hit an E-Stop when neccessary... it happens at every chain- the station attendant could have killed the power to the monorail at WDW a few months ago and saved a life, but they weren't paying attention...
It's refreshing to me to see someone take pride and use professionalism in their work as a ride attendant.
Oh I completely agree when it comes to someone enjoying their work. But, as a company Six Flags is a scattered as any other company on the map. Not every park is consistent with policies, passes, parking, food, you name it.
At the same time, when someone jumps in on this site telling someone they don't know what they are talking about should really take a step back before posting the way he did. No one is perfect and not one park has it all.
I, myself, just want to see respect between members. New and old. That's how this site works and it will continue to work.
Does anyone know if the park opened today or is it still closed? If the park opened, what rides and things were still closed?
I would say that the park opened, but not for long since it stsrted to rain again. I don't know for sure though.
Racer was a very hospitable host when I came to visit SFOG so I would cut your co-worker a break. He did a very good job showing me a first timer the ins and outs of SFOG, even pointed out where Deja Vu's pieces lie from the view up on Acrophobia. He represents the park well.
Thanks Leo.
To put it truefully, Six Flags as a whole isnt doing good. They are the only park chain to file chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And the fact that the New York Stock Exchange delisted Six Flags tells the story. I would have to say that Six Flags is the only major park chain to have so many accidents that are the parks fault. People think that they are so great, but ceo Mark Shapiro just doesnt care about giving money to parks for maintance. Hence why most rides arent being fixed so often. I did do research on the chapter 11 and the NYSE delist of Six Flags.
I wouldn't say that Shapiro does not care but the whole situation involved carefully management. How much of the entertainment sector do they hold? We kind of have to hold our breath for this chain. They're like a Bank of America, GM, or Wells Fargo in our country for rollercoasters. It sure did sound crappy to me that they were delisted. I read that and knew what was going on for quite a few years. Of course I felt very lucky to rake up almost all the parks in recent years. I want to see as many retain the name as possible especially the Pre-Premier core. I only have SFStL and SFGAM left to visit.
SFOG was open this weekend including GASM and the Ninja. The only section of the park that was closed this week was Lickskillet. The rides that were down were Skybuckets, Thomas Town, Thunder River, Splash, and Wheelie. Mindbender opened today as well which is saying alot considering the location of its computers. Conserning my comments towards racer I do tend to come off strong I appologise, no harm was inteded.
Oh, I guess not, instead of hitting E-Stop when a cable came loose they pick up the phone and call someone. And for that mistake a girl lost her feet. (She got one re-attached thank god).
So, please don't act all high and mighty to regular posters on here. You are the newbie, don't go spouting off saying someone is wrong because what they post.
Oh, I guess not, instead of hitting E-Stop when a cable came loose they pick up the phone and call someone. And for that mistake a girl lost her feet. (She got one re-attached thank god).
So, please don't act all high and mighty to regular posters on here. You are the newbie, don't go spouting off saying someone is wrong because what they post.
Perhaps the fact that investigators of that incident at SFKK cited improper cables and improper maintenance should shed a clue why it "didn't have that feature," or it could have indeed not had that feature altogether.
I've worked on several rides at two parks, and each time, there is a specific time we are told we can use an e-stop, and how the e-stop behaves. Over and above that, we also had other specific procedures laid out in cases of emergency. Before we could even touch the controls in most cases, we had to take a visual board exam, and pass with only getting one or two wrong. However, at Michigan's Adventure, where I did my first bit of work, we didn't have the visuals, nor did we have a real operations manual like I got at Cedar Point (this was because the park was still being transitioned into the Cedar Fair way of operations). That, I believe, all came in subsequent seasons. Still, we got a lot of the aforementioned information and training.
However, in my observations and reports from others, there have been lots of inconsistency in operations between Six Flags parks. Some seem to run decent, but then some are lax, especially in terms of supervision and training. That is why you hear of some cases of operators too busy on their cells txting or not paying attention to things. Plus, you've had cases where their actions have indirectly led to the deaths of people (such as the Superman: ROS incident at SFNE), when a man should not have been allowed to ride due to his girth and inability to properly secure himself was allowed to do so with minimal checking of his restraints and such... he was thrown off toward the end of the ride and was killed.
It could depend by state regulation/labor departments too. Here in NJ I've heard the operators say "Visual scan" during loading cycles all season but not in other parks in other states.
I'm really encouraged to hear GASM was back at SFOG.
Same here about the Screamer. Its the main reason I'd like to one day visit the park.
Good to hear the park was open and so much was open in the park.