Families' day at the water park cut short by stormy weather
Related Story
BATON ROUGE - We're one month into the summer and high temperatures are still forcing families to find a way to cool down.
Families got out the door early, as they used their weekend to beat the heat.
“Well we just wanted to get out, it’s so hot outside.” Stacey Fontenote said. She and her mother traveled from Slidell to enjoy the BREC Liberty Lagoon Water Park.
Other families were looking for relief from the sweltering sun as well. Tammy Lucas said her family was one of many in line to get into the water park.
“We wanted to do it before school, but we didn't know it was going to be like this," Lucas said. "It is hot!”
Tracey Madden traveled all the way from Gulfport, Mississippi to enjoy the water park.
“It's extremely hot," Madden said as she waited in the sun. "We have water we froze, but once we get in here it should be much better.”
It became clear that many other Baton Rouge and even out-of-town residents had the same idea. The line at Liberty Lagoon stretched outside the park and around the building.
It was so long that the park reached capacity and had to close its gates.
Father, Brandon Hall, traveled from New Orleans to bring his family. He had the right idea and sat on a bench in what shade he could find outside the park as he waited.
“Yeah, it’s too hot for me to stand in line," Hall said. "So I’m going to sit here until the rest get to the front.”
Others in the line echoed the same sentiment, that the weather Saturday morning was unbearably hot.
Once inside the park, the heat became a little more bearable. The lazy river, Lilly Pad and the other attractions doing a good job of keeping the hundreds in the park cool.
However, that enjoyment was short-lived as a message that came over the speakers, asking everyone to evacuate the pool as lightning, thunder and rain rolled through.
Families ran for cover under the many tents and umbrellas. While some kids were rightfully upset after waiting in line for hours, others made the most of it. Some singing church choir songs, others taking a moment to feel the rain and dance.
For most, it was a day well spent beating the heat, even if it didn’t go exactly as planned.