Restaurant breaks free from barge during dinner hour, floats some along Ohio River

Covington Fire Department Capt. Chris Kiely said diners at Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant near Cincinnati used cell phones to call for help as the restaurant floated about 85 to 100 feet downstream.

Everyone on board, including former Cincinnati Bengals star Cris Collinsworth, was safe after the hours-long rescue, Kiely said. All were led off one at a time, wearing life jackets.

TV footage of the rescue showed dinner patrons pacing aboard the barge as firefighters put up the makeshift bridge of ladders that spanned swirling, debris-filled water. Work boats edged close amid the flashing lights of fire trucks nearby.

Patron Kathy Kinane said this morning that she and her husband had been finishing their dinner with another couple when they felt a bump. Her husband, Bill, looked out the window and saw that the usually stationary boat was moving.

By then, a crowd had gathered by the exit. The walkway ramp had broken loose from shore. But rescuers and tugboats arrived quickly, and the fact the power stayed on helped prevent a panic, she said.

The Kinanes, frequent patrons of the restaurant, had worn snorkels and masks when they arrived to surprise the manager. They returned the gear to their cars -- though Kinane joked they should have kept it with them.

"We were joking about the river," she said. "Well, the joke's on us now."

Emergency crews strapped the life jackets on those whose dinner of shrimp and seafood was abruptly interrupted. Women were taken to shore first, across the improvised ladder bridge, Kinane said. She said she had to take off her heels to make her way out.

Kiely said he saw that Collinsworth -- now an NBC pro football commentator -- among those rescued. Collinsworth, who played at the University of Florida, has long been associated with Ruby, who offers "Steak Collinsworth" at several of his restaurants.

This morning efforts were continuing to keep the restaurant secured. Tree limbs and other debris filled the water and garbage piled against one end of the restaurant.

Rob Carlisle, one of the owners of C&B Marine of Covington, directed efforts by one of his company's towboats to secure the front end of the restaurant. He said the restaurant became wedged against the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, one of several linking Cincinnati with northern Kentucky.

"If the bridge wasn't there it could have traveled down the river quite a ways," he said.

Carlisle said authorities were discussing the possibility of a crane on a barge being brought in to help put the restaurant back in place when river levels permit.

Two waterfront restaurants in Newport, Ky., closed recently because of high waters from heavy rains. The Ohio River already was above flood stage and was expected to crest at 4 feet to 5 feet above flood stage. Low-lying areas just east of Cincinnati on the Ohio side have experienced some moderate flooding.