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   Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving... (Associated Press) 
   
   BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least 13 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists capsized and sank on a lake during a thunderstorm in a country music mecca in southwest Missouri, authorities said Friday. 
   
   Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said four people remain missing Friday after the Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson Thursday evening. He said 14 people survived, and that seven of them were injured. 
   
   Patrol divers found two more bodies early Friday, raising the death toll from 11 to 13, Pace said. 
   
   A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults are in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said. 
   
   Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said Thursday that stormy weather likely made the boat capsize. Another duck boat on the lake made it safely back to shore. 
   
   Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph (100 kph). 
   
   "It's a warning telling people to take shelter," he said. 
   
   Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the boat capsized. Dive teams from several law enforcement agencies assisted in the effort. 
   
   The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning. 
   
   Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour's only accident in more than 40 years of operation. 
   
   Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music. An EF2 tornado that bounced through downtown Branson in 2012 destroyed dozens of buildings and injured about three dozen people, but killed no one. 
   
   Duck boats, which can travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. Five college students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus, and 13 people died in 1999 when a duck boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. 
   
   Safety advocates have sought improvements since the Arkansas deaths. Critics argued that part of the problem is that too many agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements. 
   
   Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles. ||||| Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving... (Associated Press) 
   
   Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018. A sheriff in Missouri said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake, leaving several people dead and several others hospitalized. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via... (Associated Press) 
   
   BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — At least 11 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists on a Missouri lake capsized and sank Thursday night, the local sheriff said. 
   
   Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said five people remain missing and seven others were hospitalized after a Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson. 
   
   A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults were in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said. 
   
   Rader said the stormy weather was believed to be the cause of the capsizing. Another duck boat on the lake was able to safely make it back to shore. 
   
   Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph. 
   
   "It's a warning telling people to take shelter," he said. 
   
   Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the accident. 
   
   Dive teams from a number of law enforcement agencies were assisting in the effort, but the sheriff said the divers ended their search for the night. 
   
   The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning. 
   
   Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour's first accident in more than 40 years of operation. 
   
   Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music. 
   
   Duck boats, known for their ability to travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. They include one in 2015 in Seattle in which five college students were killed when a boat collided with a bus, and one in 1999 that left 13 people dead after the boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. 
   
   Safety advocates have sought improvements to the boats since the Arkansas incident. Critics argued that part of the problem is numerous agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements. 
   
   Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles. ||||| BRANSON, M0. — It had been a nice summer day here in the Ozarks, and the duck boat filled with sightseers was coasting through a calm Table Rock Lake. Then the wind began to pick up and the water started to churn as a powerful thunderstorm crashed through. 
   
   Rain pummeled the amphibious boat, waves tossed it like a toy, 65 mph gusts of wind hit it with spray, and water crashed over its bow. As the boat struggled toward the dock and safety for its 29 passengers and two-member crew, it was overwhelmed. Gripping video footage from the lake showed the boat seesawing and lurching in unrelenting waves. Before long, the small, flat-bottomed, half-boat half-bus capsized and sank, plunging to the bottom of the lake and killing more than half of the people aboard. 
   
   By the end of the day Friday, authorities had recovered the bodies of 17, a list of victims that crossed generations, ranging from 1 to 76 years old, many of them out-of-state visitors — including nine members of one family. Authorities said the captain survived, while the boat’s driver was killed. Branson Mayor Karen Best identified the driver as local resident Robert “Bob” Williams, 73. 
   
   Late Friday night, authorities released the names of the passengers who died. Four, including Williams, were from Missouri: William Asher, 69; Rosemarie Hamann, 68; Janice Bright, 63; and William Bright, 65. Two — Steve Smith, 53; and Lance Smith, 15 — were from Arkansas. One, Leslie Dennison, 64, was from Illinois. 
   
   The remaining nine were from Indiana, all from the Coleman family: Angela, 45; Belinda, 69; Ervin 76; Glenn, 40; Horace, 70; Reece, 9; Evan, 7; Maxwell, 2; and Arya, 1. Only two members of the family survived. 
   
   Duck boats are a popular tourist attraction in cities across the country, allowing passengers to sightsee by land and water in the same vehicle. The boat here, near this resort town in southwest Missouri, had been on a regular tour around Table Rock. Though Table Rock Lake is normally placid, some authorities and experts said Friday that it is unclear why operators did not heed forecasts and warnings that the potentially violent storm was approaching. 
   
   [The violent storm behind the duck boat tragedy was well-predicted, not ‘out of nowhere’] 
   
   Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters that he believed the boat — which he said was one of two duck boats still on the lake during the storm — sank because of the weather. When asked Friday whether he thought operator or design error played a role in the tragedy, Rader declined to answer. The second boat made it back to the dock safely. 
   
   Jim Pattison Jr., president of Ripley Entertainment, which bought the duck boat operation in 2017, said in an interview Friday that it appeared the storm came on suddenly on a lake that normally is “very, very flat,” taking the crew by surprise. He said the boat captain has 16 years’ experience. 
   
   “We’re absolutely devastated,” Pattison said. “Our hearts just really go out to everybody, and it’s just something that is very sad.” 
   
   Suzanne Smagala, a spokeswoman for Ripley Entertainment, said that the company later became aware of the severe weather alert that had been issued before the storm and that boat captains receive weather alerts by email or text message. “However, we don’t know if the captain received it” on Thursday night, she said. 
   
   “When the weather picked up, the captain turned it around,” she added. The boat was heading toward the shore when it capsized. 
   
   Though tourists might have known generally that thunderstorms were expected sometime Thursday, meteorologists had been tracking the storm for hours, and their forecasts offered considerable lead time. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch at 11:20 a.m., nearly eight hours before the storm struck, and at that time, it predicted “widespread damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible.” 
   
   The Weather Service then issued a severe thunderstorm warning — indicating a violent storm was imminent — at 6:32 p.m., about 30 minutes before police were called about the boat capsizing. 
   
   Marshall Shepherd, a past president of the American Meteorological Society and a professor at the University of Georgia, tweeted that the “tragedy was completely preventable.” 
   
   “This is not 1901,” he wrote. “We have satellites, advanced radars, good weather models, all short-term weather information showed that storms approaching well before the boat was on the water.” 
   
   Authorities said they expected to recover the sunken boat late Friday from its resting place in 80 feet of water. Rader said the boat went down in about 40 feet of water but rolled to a deeper point and ended up on its wheels. 
   
   “It’s going to take time to know the details of everything that occurred,” Gov. Mike Parson (R) said at a news briefing Friday, noting that the sprawling investigation had just begun. “Until that investigation is completed, I don’t think it’s my place or anyone’s place to speculate all the things that could have happened or why they happened.” 
   
   The duck boat that sank Thursday was owned by Ride the Ducks Branson, a tourism company that takes people on tours of the Ozarks by land and water using the amphibious vehicles. Ride the Ducks is a national duck tour operator with locations across the United States, and Ripley’s purchase of the Branson company last year added to its collection of more than 100 entertainment venues. Those include the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise and the Guinness World Records Attractions, as well as mazes, haunted houses, traveling shows and other attractions across the United States and 10 other countries worldwide. 
   
   Pattison told The Post on Friday that the company bought Ride the Ducks Branson — to date, Ripley’s only duck boat outfit — in part because Ripley already had a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Branson. 
   
   A press release announcing the purchase described the tour as a 70-minute, guided amphibious tour that takes passengers through the Ozarks. At the time of the announcement, the company operated 22 duck vehicles from March to November. The announcement has since been removed from Ripley’s website. 
   
   Duck boats were originally developed as amphibious military vehicles used in beach landings. The duck boat tours in Branson include a trip up a nearby mountain to look at decades-old military equipment. 
   
   While some tourism duck boats were converted from the Army’s World War II-era “DUKW” boats, those used by Ride the Ducks Branson were replicas, the company said, updated with modern safety equipment. 
   
   Smagala said the boat tragedy was the first accident involving the duck boats in Branson. The company has been operating in the city for 40 years and is “a staple of Branson,” Smagala said. 
   
   Federal investigators also headed to the scene to join state and local officials, with the National Transportation Safety Board dispatching a “Go Team” to the lake to help probe the latest disaster involving duck boats, which have been involved in several fatal accidents in water and on land. Thirteen people died in 1999 when a duck boat took on water and sank while touring Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Ark. The NTSB found that when the boat was converted for tourism, it was not given enough built-in buoyancy to stay afloat if flooded. Just seven minutes after that boat entered the lake, it sank in 60 feet of water. 
   
   In 2015, a Ride the Ducks boat crashed into a charter bus on the Aurora Bridge in Seattle; five college students were killed and dozens of other people injured. Ride the Ducks International agreed the following year to pay $1 million for violating federal safety regulations, according to the Seattle Times. 
   
   
   
   Flowers and a note rest on a car believed to belong to a victim of the duck boat accident in Branson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) 
   
   Two passengers on a duck boat were killed in 2010 near Philadelphia when a barge collided with the smaller vessel. The NTSB determined that the accident — which caused the duck boat to sink — occurred because the person guiding the barge was focused on his cellphone, although federal investigators also criticized the duck boat’s operator, Ride the Ducks, for actions they said contributed to the accident. 
   
   Some of the deadly accidents show dangers that come with some versions of the hybrid vessels. Often the boats are covered by thick canopies that shield riders from the sun and rain, but can create an obstacle to safety in emergencies, trapping passengers inside as the vessels sink. 
   
   Four of the passengers who died on the Miss Majestic in 1999 in Arkansas were pinned against the underside of the canopy. 
   
   “Contributing to the high loss of life was a continuous canopy roof that entrapped passengers within the sinking vehicle,” an NTSB report on the incident said. 
   
   The Coast Guard issued nationwide standards for inspections of the vehicles in December 2000, which still cover the industry. The NTSB recommended in 2002 that built-in flotation devices or other means be added to the retrofitted military boats to make sure the vessels “remain afloat and upright.” 
   
   The duck boats in Branson are popular with tourists and locals alike, said Best, the mayor. She said she could not recall previous problems with the two companies that have operated the boats in the 16 years she has lived in Branson. 
   
   “The duck boats are such a great asset to our community,” she said. “As a local, I’ve ridden in them I can’t tell you how many times.” 
   
   1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The scene after a duck boat sinks, killing 17 during a storm near Branson, Mo. View Photos The boat was touring Table Rock Lake when a thunderstorm swept in. Authorities said 31 people were on board. Caption The boat was touring Table Rock Lake when a thunderstorm swept in. Authorities said 31 people were on board. Trent Behr Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
   
   Many tourists riding similar boats in the District on Friday were undeterred by news of the fatal event in Missouri, viewing it as an isolated occurrence. 
   
   As a fleet of boats operated by DC Ducks filed into Union Station on Friday afternoon, the Valdonedo family disembarked with wide smiles. The vacationers from Panama planned to stay in the nation’s capital for a week, and they said they had no intention of changing their plans to ride the duck boat. 
   
   “One random accident doesn’t mean they’re a bad company,” said Gabby Valdonedo, 25. “It’s a good way to see the city.” 
   
   Her sister, Monique Valdonedo, 19, added that duck boats are “way more fun than going down the Metro.” 
   
   But other tourists expressed some concern about the amphibious tours. Tiffany Li, 19, was visiting Washington with a friend on Friday and considered taking a DC Duck tour to pass time before their train back to New York. 
   
   “Clearly it’s a safety issue,” said Kume. “The boats don’t seem that stable, but tourists don’t know any better. They just pay to have fun.” 
   
   Li compared the danger to riding a roller coaster at an amusement park. “You don’t want to question things when you’re having a good time, so you just don’t think about it,” she said. 
   
   Ultimately, they decided against taking the tour, though Li said the decision was based more on money than safety. 
   
   Branson, near the Arkansas border, is a destination for country and live-music fans, with many acts covering Elvis, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton standards. Its main boulevard includes Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction, and Silver Dollar City, an 1800s-themed amusement park. Best, who is in her second term in office, said the city has about 10,000 residents and welcomes more than 8 million visitors yearly; July is one of its busiest months. 
   
   Best and her staff prepared Branson City Hall as a refuge for those waiting for news of their loved ones, and the city brought in certified grief counselors. Best said she saw one of the grief counselors take wet socks from a young man and dry them with the bathroom hand drier. “That was such a small thing, but for that young man, having dry socks was such an improvement from being cold and wet,” she said. “Little things like that meant a lot to the families.” 
   
   Seven passengers were injured, and two of those were in serious condition. 
   
   Williams, the driver of the boat, lived in Branson with his wife of 30 years. He was described as having loved his role promoting Branson. 
   
   “Every time you saw him he was smiling,” Best said. “He was a great guy. He loved Branson.” 
   
   Victor Richardson, a grandson of Williams’s, said in a telephone interview that “he was the calmest spirit you could ever meet.” 
   
   Police were called about the duck boat sinking shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday, officials said. While dive teams headed to the scene, people already there began to help, Rader said. Among those helping were one of his deputies, who was off-duty and providing security on the Branson Belle, a showboat used for lake tours. 
   
   The weather had been nice until shortly before the disaster, Allison Lester, who saw what happened from a nearby boat, said in a television interview. 
   
   “The wind really picked up bad, and debris was flying everywhere, and just the waves were really rough,” Lester told “Good Morning America” on Friday. “It was just suddenly and out of nowhere.” 
   
   In video captured by onlookers from the lake, two duck boats can be seen plunging up and down in choppy waves and high spray. One boat lags behind the other, nose-diving into the water. 
   
   “Oh my gosh, oh no,” a woman is heard saying in the background of the video. “Somebody needs to help them.” 
   
   Crazy storm... 17 fatalities on Table Rock Lake. Lakesideresort.com #tablerock #lovetablerock #tablerocklake #branson Posted by Lakeside Resort & Restaurant on Table Rock Lake on Thursday, July 19, 2018 
   
   Berman, Chiu and Wax reported from Washington. Abigail Hauslohner, Michael Laris, Luz Lazo, Deanna Paul, Julie Tate, Jason Samenow, Samantha Schmidt and Rachel Siegel in Washington contributed to this report. Ristau is a freelance journalist based in Tulsa.
target: – Severe weather is being blamed for what could be America's deadliest "duck boat" disaster. Authorities in Branson, Missouri, have confirmed that at least 13 people, including children, died Thursday night when an amphibious boat carrying tourists capsized and sank in Table Rock Lake. Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said Friday that four people remain missing, reports the AP. He added that 14 people survived, and that seven of them were injured. Stone County Sheriff Douglas Rader said the boat apparently sank due to intense winds and thunderstorms in the area, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Rader said some of the 31 people on the boat were rescued by an off-duty deputy who was in the area. National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Lindenberg says a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the area Thursday evening, the AP reports. Eyewitness video shows the boat being struck by huge waves. "Duck boats," originally used by the military in World War II, have been involved in several other deadly accidents nationwide, including a sinking in Arkansas that killed 13 people in 1999, though a Ride the Ducks spokeswoman says this is the first accident in more than 40 years of operation in Branson. "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the captain did his best," Roger Braillier, captain of another duck boat, tells the Washington Post. "All of our hearts are completely broken right now."