Hershey, PA Flooding

[WriteDisney]

Maybe I'm late to this but I was catching up on news from the floods last week and saw that a lot of animals from Zoo America at Hershey, PA died. It's just so unfortunate and sad, DH and I love heading to Hershey and we always make a stop to see the animals there.

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.abc27.com/story/15415545/at-least-2-zooamerica-animals-die-in-hershey-flooding

I hope this brings attention to the issue if flooding ever happens again so they don't lose animals like that.

 

[Mkrop]

I cant bring up your article for some reason but I read that only the bison perished that MANY animals were saved due to the dedication of the Zoo America staff. This flooding came up VERY quickly, and there was not a lot of notice

 

[HelenePA]

Have you seen pictures of our flooding up here? It was awful and happened VERY VERY fast! Humans first, then we should worry about animals... sorry that's just how I feel. I know I"ll be jumped on but when your rivers are 20 FEET above flood stage and set new records.... its going to happen.

 

[Dax]

There is a very heated debate going on at the Hershey Park Facebook page due to the loss of the 2 bison. I will keep my opinions to myself on how I feel about it. From everything HP is saying though, they only lost the 2 bison, no other animals died as a result, though the backlash in the community from that may keep them from being entirely truthful on the whole thing.


Sad for everyone involved

 

[MinnieLynnie]

There is a very heated debate going on at the Hershey Park Facebook page due to the loss of the 2 bison. I will keep my opinions to myself on how I feel about it. From everything HP is saying though, they only lost the 2 bison, no other animals died as a result, though the backlash in the community from that may keep them from being entirely truthful on the whole thing.


Sad for everyone involved

I've been reading that page as well. Very sad. A very good friend of mine lives in Camp Hill, PA, which is very close to HP. She said many more animals perished, but who really knows?

I've seen some of the pictures they posted of the flooding....OMG. Horrible, horrible, horrible. They posted a photo of the front gate area, supposedly taken the following day, after flood waters receded. I have my doubts about whether the photo was really taken after the flooding.

 

[maelstrom]

There was also horrible flooding at Knoebels, which is also in Pennsylvania.

 

[HelenePA]

There was also horrible flooding at Knoebels, which is also in Pennsylvania.

They only animals they have are 2 injured bald eagles. They are not near the river that runs thru it. I'm sure they had time to get those to safety. If you look on their facebook page its pretty much put back together 3 days after flooding.. they are amazing! The flood there was about 6" from the record Agnes set in '72. If you want to see some horrible flooding look up bloomsburg PA and the town and fairgrounds... its going to take ppl years to get things put back together up there... I'm not very far from them The flooding up here was MAJOR... houses were floating down rivers... 3 story houses completely covered by water... this was a MAJOR MAJOR flash flood.. yes flash flood of a river going up 18 FEET over night... about a foot an hour...

 

[disney junky]

I've been reading that page as well. Very sad. A very good friend of mine lives in Camp Hill, PA, which is very close to HP. She said many more animals perished, but who really knows?

I've seen some of the pictures they posted of the flooding....OMG. Horrible, horrible, horrible. They posted a photo of the front gate area, supposedly taken the following day, after flood waters receded. I have my doubts about whether the photo was really taken after the flooding.

How does your friend know that many more animals perished?

 

[WriteDisney]

I won't add my two cents on the whole thing, just putting it out there. But for anyone having trouble reading the article here it is:

HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) -

Officials with Hersheypark and ZooAmerica have confirmed the deaths of two bison caused by Wednesday's flooding.

Mindy Bianca, a spokeswoman for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, said the bison were euthanized when zoo staff were unable to save them from the high water. She said the staff worked very hard and did the best they could under the conditions.

Bianca added that ZooAmerica staff spent the night at the park in order to care for animals that had been rescued.

Neighbors, meanwhile, were saddened and angered by what had happened after many of them said they watched the animals die in the flood waters.

"It looked like the animals were panicking," said one woman who watched the rescue efforts. "The two bison that were in the enclosure, their heads were barely above water and they were panicking."

Bancroft said the workers tried very hard to save the animals.

"The water, of course, kept getting higher and higher and they were just trying to keep their head above water, and at one point they had a rope and they were just trying to hook that around the horn of the bison," she said.

Neighbors insist there were many more deaths than just those of the two bison.

"The coyotes, a lot of them did not make it," said one witness. "A lot of them were standing on the hill. You could hear them crying from our house."

Bianca said the zoo does not have coyotes.

Some people said the park should have planned ahead for the heavy rains.

"I think Hershey should be called on the carpet for this, Jack Bancroft said. "There's no reason that animals should die. I guess it's just a write-off for Hershey."

 

[MinnieLynnie]

How does your friend know that many more animals perished?

I believe it's just word-of-mouth, at this point. She mentioned that people are saying a wolf may have perished. Like I said, who really knows? Only the folks who run Hersheypark, at this time.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

They don't have coyotes there. We were just there last year, no coyotes. There may be coyotes in the area, but they don't belong to the zoo.

If they have never experience flooding like that before, the were probably completely caught out. People are acting like the purposely put these animals in danger.

Of course, I'm sure THEY would have done better. I'm sure one of those people criticizing would have been the first person into the water with the bison.

These people work with these animals daily, I'm sure it's like losing a member of the family to them. Cut them some freekin' slack.

 

[tefrench]

People died in this flood, never mind the animals. It was really, really bad in areas. I'm sure the zoo did the best it could.

 

[Kycha]

Have you seen pictures of our flooding up here? It was awful and happened VERY VERY fast! Humans first, then we should worry about animals...

My sentiments exactly. The sad thing is, there were 9 human deaths(4 in PA alone) that nobody is talking about. One man in Derry Twp, Dauphin Co, PA was killed when a wall collapsed on him while he was bailing water out of his basement. Another man in Penn Twp, Lancaster Co(just a few miles from where I used to live) was walking home from a neighbors after helping them get water out of their home. He attempted to walk across a bridge that was flooded over. He was swept away and is now presumed dead. And an 8 year old boy in East Cocalico Twp, Lancaster Co was playing in a neighbors flooded back yard. The water was not running but the little boy got too close to a storm drain pipe and he was sucked in and killed. The little boy was my Uncle in law's next door neighbor. He was good friends with his father. It is just a tragic situation.

These people work with these animals daily, I'm sure it's like losing a member of the family to them. Cut them some freekin' slack.

I agree. The water just came too quickly. I was looking at pictures on a local TV station's facebook page. Somebody posted a picture of their backyard at 10:30 am. It was taken from their second story with a very good view of their backyard and you couldn't see any water anywhere. They posted a second picture at 1:00 pm and their house was completely surround by water. In the span of 2 1/2 hours, the creek had risen 4 or 5 feet. With water that is rising that quickly, there was no way to save some of those Zoo animals. It is unfortunate. And I think that the Zoo did the right thing in euthanizing the bison.

 

[HelenePA]

People DIED in HERSHEY! but I'm sure bison are more important to save than people right? Hershey is in Dauphin co... is where my dd#1 was born at Penn St Hospital

Do people out of the area just not understand how bad this flood was?!?! some schools are still closed, roads are gone.. just gone washed away, homes complete homes, washed away never to be seen again and the news is going after Hershey because of a few bison?

 

[Kycha]

People DIED in HERSHEY! but I'm sure bison are more important to save than people right? Hershey is in Dauphin co... is where my dd#1 was born at Penn St Hospital

Do people out of the area just not understand how bad this flood was?!?! some schools are still closed, roads are gone.. just gone washed away, homes complete homes, washed away never to be seen again and the news is going after Hershey because of a few bison?

I don't think people do understand how bad the flooding was. Not just the flooding itself, but the widespread area it encompassed. My husband and I lived in Lancaster County most of our lives. Since this began, I have looked at hundreds of photos and dozens of videos. And we have both said how crazy it is. That there are areas flooded that have never flooded in the 40 years we lived there.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

not sure what to think...

my first thought was that they are prone to flooding and have been through it before - have a book on the history of the park and remember reading about floods in the past and dolphins... Seems to me, any park that deals with animals should have steps in place and be ready to carry them out at the first threat or thought of the possibility. It is the responsibility you take on when you decide to open this type of facility.

I don't want to judge them too harshly though...

Also, I don't see any reason why we can't be concerned about both the humans and the animals....just because you are concerned or questioning concerning the animals involved, does not mean you care any less about the human lives.

 

[HelenePA]

here is one of bloomsburg this is up north of hershey but here give you an idea of the flooding that happened... the only thing that is supposed to have water in it is that river... nothing else... the airport is gone, the town park is gone, the middle school is gone, houses floated down this river gone, people gone... the news stations were on 24/7 a town even up more was evacuated 65,000 people had to leave mandatory (thankfully the levee held or wilkes-barre would be someplace down this river)

 

[HelenePA]

not sure what to think...

my first thought was that they are prone to flooding and have been through it before - have a book on the history of the park and remember reading about floods in the past and dolphins... Seems to me, any park that deals with animals should have steps in place and be ready to carry them out at the first threat or thought of the possibility. It is the responsibility you take on when you decide to open this type of facility.

I don't want to judge them too harshly though...

Also, I don't see any reason why we can't be concerned about both the humans and the animals....just because you are concerned or questioning concerning the animals involved, does not mean you care any less about the human lives.

And I'll tell you what I think... Thank god more people didn't die in this... its up to you to make up your mind..


This was a flash flood of a RIVER.. a river, not a minor is rising event... it happened in HOURS.. HOURS... 18 feet in HOURS!!! The last time a flood like this happened was in 1972 when hurricane Agnes came thru (before my time!) no one thought it would ever happen again... a once in a lifetime freak flood... this flood even set record in other towns... between hurricane irene that came thru last weekened and then TS Lee.. it was just too much... no one would have thought we'd see the river at almost 43' FEET!!! flood stage is at about 19 in most places... this was MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR flooding.. think new orleans but no wind flooding... and yes I've been there I've seen what N.O had done.. this is THAT bad.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

And I'll tell you what I think... Thank god more people didn't die in this... its up to you to make up your mind..


This was a flash flood of a RIVER.. a river, not a minor is rising event... it happened in HOURS.. HOURS... 18 feet in HOURS!!! The last time a flood like this happened was in 1972 when hurricane Agnes came thru (before my time!) no one thought it would ever happen again... a once in a lifetime freak flood... this flood even set record in other towns... between hurricane irene that came thru last weekened and then TS Lee.. it was just too much... no one would have thought we'd see the river at almost 43' FEET!!! flood stage is at about 19 in most places... this was MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR flooding.. think new orleans but no wind flooding... and yes I've been there I've seen what N.O had done.. this is THAT bad.

wow, I was just stating my thoughts - don't get so worked up......just IMHO little thoughts - I clearly stated 1. I don't know what to think 2. my FIRST thoughts were... 3. I did say I didn't want to judge too harshly.....geez! Maybe you need to step back for a bit . I realize you are close to this, but if you took my words as reason to go off then you may want to take a deep breath.

 

[HelenePA]

I'm very close to this... VERY close... Yes I'm angry that people think losing 2 bison in what we just when thru in the last week is something to give hershey crap about... I applaud them for only losing 2 bison! I live on a huge mtn so I was not involved with the flooding but for days it was news 24/7 no shows just flooding and where to go, who needs to evacuated, blackhawks helicopters rescuing people.. trucks called out for pumping water out of local towns, some of schools will not reopen for months.. I have no idea what they will do...what about the people who died? that should be news worthy... thousands of people lost everything..