ENOSBURGH, Vt. (WCAX) – Flood watches are in place through Thursday for all of northern Vermont and New York as warming weather breaks up ice on area rivers.<\/p>\n
The recent thaw has caused ice on rivers like the Missisquoi to break up and flow downstream in large blocks. With snowmelt raising river levels, officials say there is potential for jams and flooding.<\/p>\n
Residents in Enosburgh said they have seen it before and are not overly concerned at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had ice clear up to the top of the guardrails before,\u201d said Chade Bartsch of Enosburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIce jams can be scary, but this one\u2019s not. It\u2019s pretty well settled. Luckily, the water\u2019s not high,\u201d said Pierre Boudreau of Enosburgh.<\/p>\n
Boudreau said he has seen the spot jam up every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tight spot for the river. It kinda narrows over there and that bridge tends to hold a dam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The National Weather Service said ice jams are hard to predict since ice can get caught on anything and pile up at any time.<\/p>\n
Vermont Emergency Management Director Eric Forand said officials are mainly watching the Missisquoi, Winooski and Lamoille rivers, but jams can happen on any waterway.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the unknown of where some ice might just happen to catch. It might\u2019ve not caught in the last 100 years, but today it just catches,\u201d Forand said.<\/p>\n
He said if ice stops water flow completely, conditions can change rapidly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt pushes the water out over the banks into the fields or into homes \u2014 so that\u2019s really what we\u2019re watching for,\u201d Forand said.<\/p>\n
When the ice jam in Enosburgh began to release, it got caught again before reaching a second jam farther down.<\/p>\n
Dry weather on Monday helped keep the situation in Enosburgh from escalating. Forand said rain or additional snowmelt in the coming days could prompt more concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can accept some amounts of water but not all of it, so it depends how much rain comes down, coupled with how much snow is melted before ice starts to break up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the way nature works, you know, Mother Nature is the boss,\u201d Boudreau said.<\/p>\n
Authorities say people should stay away from rivers near ice jams, as situations can escalate rapidly. Those living near a river are advised to have an evacuation plan and a go-bag with essential items ready.<\/p>\n
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