The Floods
OUR FIRM
THE FLOODS
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On March 9th, 1997, just a few years after the winery's grand opening, the Ohio River was continuing its annual springtime rise. This year, however, it continued its rise into the winery. View the 1997 photos to see the river taking over the winery (it crested two feet higher on March 11, 1997). After it crested it began a slow seven day decent, leaving behind a muddy mess.
A view of Lanthier Winery looking west on the north side of the property can be seen in the photos. The winery entrance was completely submerged and only a few, tall evergreens were visible in the north garden.
Upon being warned of the impending flood, friends and family pitched in to help save 'what could be saved.' On advice of experienced 'river rats,' a garden hose was attached to the entrance door so crews could enter the winery while there was still plenty of water to help ease the clean up process (heavy things float in water, which eases the removal process). As soon as the water dropped to wading height (below chest), Tami followed the floating hose from the north alley, across the garden, to the entrance door.
Friends and family arrived by the hundreds to help rescue the winery. Elroy Szabo (see flood photos), stands thigh deep in water to show off his fancy wading pants. The sign reads, 'We are Open Sundays' and is sitting on a table floating in the Ohio River, whose murky waters still lingered in the winery more than 8 days after it had crested. Kevin Shadday and Gerry Chase (see flood photos) rowed into the driveway. The dark line on the pole shows the high water mark from the day before.
Lanthier Winery will never forget everyone's special support and rescue efforts during this difficult time. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and we are grateful to everyone who helped our business bounce back and become better than ever.
March 9, 1997
View of Lanthier Winery looking west on the north side of the property. Winery entrance is completely submerged. Only a few tall evergreens are visible in the north garden.
March 9, 1997
FLOOD 2011
In April of 2011, the Ohio River flooded again. This time the river found its way into the driveway of Lanthier Winery, but wasn't quite able to make it inside. The biggest issue was the drains filling with debris. We were lucky to receive great assistance from the local fire department, who helped flush out the drains to prevent water backing up, which would have created many more problems.
FLOOD 2018
After years of evading the Ohio's raging waters, our luck ran out in February 2018. The mighty Ohio decided to visit the winery again and flowed straight into the tasting room. The winery staff, volunteers and community came together and worked diligently to clear out the winery. The water flowed into the garden, so much that we had kayaking visitors (see 2018 flood gallery). The winery closed from late February, until March 22nd when we had our re-opening day. The love, support and assistance we received during this time was remarkable and we simply cannot thank everyone enough. The coolest thing that came from this flood was drone video footage that gave us a pretty neat, bird's-eye view of the property.
2018 Drone Footage - before the crest
2018 Drone Footage - February 25, 2018 - Lanthier Winery at 3:50
