Owners of Noah’s Ark replica sue insurers over rain damage

The owners of a replica of Noah’s Ark featured at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Ky., sued its insurers for refusing to cover rain damage. 

The ark’s owners said heavy rains in 2017 and 2018 caused a landslide on the property and that its five insurance carriers refused to cover damages totaling nearly $1 million. The ark itself was reportedly undamaged in the rains.

Ark Encounter is asking for compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The suit names Swiss-based Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings, its use company and three other carriers.{mosads}

“Subsequent to heavy rains, a significant landslide occurred along portions of the slope, which eliminated the structural support for the roadway, caused significant damage to the road surface itself and the incorporated improvements, and rendered portions of the road unsafe and unfit for use,” the suit reads.

The Ark Encounter unveiled its Noah’s Ark replica in 2016. It says the dimensions are based on those listed in Genesis in the Bible.

According to the Bible’s flood narrative, Noah was instructed by God to build an ark and take two of each animal species, one of each sex, on board to survive a flood that engulfed the entire earth.