If a tornado were to hit Cedar Point what damage would it do and would anything be safe
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Millennium Force Ride Count:0
I think in 1977 a tornado went through where Gemini is today. It helped with the clearing of trees! LOL!
Tornados are a hit or miss thing. They can completely destroy something and leave the thing next to it undamaged. If you read the article in the Sunday Plain Dealer it says MF was built to withstand 90-100 mph winds. Tornadoes can have winds many times as strong. If MF was designed to withstand 90-100 mph winds most of the other coaster were designed about the same. If a tornado were to hit a coaster at CP with winds from 150-300 mph, that would probably be the end of it.
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"Magnum is very good value!" -- A RCT Guest on Magnum
Dave... Care to chime in on this one??? ;)
Now assuming that most of us have seen "Twister" over the past few years, you might have learned that Tornado's (like Hurricanes) are classified by intensity (F1 being the lower end, and F5 being completely destructive). Now with the claims that MF can withstand winds to 100+ mph (can anyone verify the exact resistance????) I can tell you, that if an F5 hits, there won't be much left in it's path, except a lot of destruction.
But you also have to look at the randomization of the occurance of tornados. They are most common along the midwest, the plains (hence the term "tornado alley"). More commonly around the CP area, they appear as waterspouts (tornados over the water)
Living in Pittsburgh, and thinking that we are immune to tornados due to the number of hills in the area, those thoughts were degressed when one struck the Mt. Washington area above downtown, thus proving they could strike anywhere.
By and large, CP is in an ideal place where tornados can and do occur (remember the waterspouts a couple years back?) I remember reading that the area where Gemini now sits was hit by a tornado back in the 70's. So to answer your question, yes, they have, do and will occur at CP. How much damage/casualties will result depends on the intensity. There is no way to predict what the outcome would be. All I can tell you, is that if one hits, I'll be heading for either the basement of Hotel Breakers, or the nearest and lowest sheltered point in the park!
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Neil
By popular vote, the official start of the
millennium has been moved to
May 13, 2000
*** This post was edited by Seven-of-9 on 5/10/2000. ***
Can anyone say Insurance.........oh I am sure CP has none of that...........
I was wondering the same thing. Something else I thought about-how much do you think their premium and deductables are?:)
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Jeff Young