Genesis, this is not
It is one of the world’s classic stories.
A gigantic ark gets built with the help of a higher power. It is a huge, grandiose structure constructed out of wood that is perhaps larger than anything comparable in the world. Then heavy rains begin to fall, inundating the earth around it.
And that’s when the lawyers are called.
Genesis, this is not. Not in 2019, not in the United States.
Ark Encounter, the multimillion-dollar theme park and monument to fundamentalist Christianity whose centerpiece is a giant replica of Noah’s Ark, is suing its insurance carriers over rain-related damages on the property.
The company, Crosswater Canyon, is seeking to recoup what it says were $1 million worth of damages, as well as attorneys fees and costs, and an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
The irony has not been lost on local media organizations and observers on social media. Even the American Atheists took a shot on Twitter.
Irony is officially dead. «Ark Encounter Files Lawsuit After Heavy Rains Damage Property» https://t.co/lB4tAxuB95
This particular chapter begins in 2017, when rains came to northern Kentucky. They did not fall for 40 days and 40 nights this time.
According to the National Weather Service, on-and-off precipitation throughout the year dropped 40-50 inches of rain that year on Williamstown, the town where the theme park is located – just a slight bump above average.
But a slope abutting an access road near the east side of the theme park’s ersatz ark began to fail in May, and eventually was subject to a “significant landslide” that took out a barrier along the road, according to the lawsuit.
