Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The weather will be a focus for many in Western New York over the next 24-to-48 hours, as a Flood Watch is in effect for the entire region through Thursday afternoon.
According to the National Weather Service, the most prone areas for flooding locally will be where ice jams typically develop, including areas in West Seneca and South Buffalo. The greatest risk for ice jam flooding will be later Tuesday night through Wednesday, with the risk for river-based flooding coming mainly Wednesday night and Thursday.
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Officials in the City of Buffalo have been closely monitoring the weather for the last few weeks, and watching how ice has been moving along both the Cazenovia Creek and Buffalo Creek into South Buffalo.
Don Poleto, senior operations engineer for the city, says a couple large stretches along both creeks had seen ice begin to move starting last week Thursday.
"All of that ice from West Seneca and out into Elma and East Aurora has already moved down into the lower basin by Caz Park, and areas along the Kaisertown area of the Buffalo River," said Poleto in an interview with WBEN on Tuesday. "The conditions we have right now is the ice field extends from the Stevenson Bridge back through Cazenovia Park to about the Orchard Park Road bridge. But then from that point out into West Seneca and Elma and East Aurora on the Caz, we have open water. The same holds similar for the Buffalo River. We have an ice field that's developed by South Ogden, right by the Buffalo/West Seneca city line there, and that ice field extends back towards Harlem Road, almost to that Lexington Green area in West Seneca. But there's not much in that area right now. And beyond that, it's all open water."
One element that Poleto believes will help lessen the impact of ice jam flooding this week is the fact that the Edward M. Cotter fireboat was able to get through some of the ice and help clear areas like the South Park lift bridge.
"She's up by the old Mobile Oil Refinery by Tesla. She is clearing right now the upper navigational limit of the Buffalo River, and what that does is that opens up capacity for us. So as that ice begins moving from the Buffalo Creek and from the Cazenovia Creek into the river, we have that capacity so we don't jam up and overtop our banks," Poleto explained.
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Also available for city workers to battle potential ice jam flooding is a long reach excavator with a 55- or 60-foot arm can be used to help clear ice from a bridge.
"If we have an ice jam at a bridge and it starts backing up water somewhere, we could actually put this machine into the ice jam and try to give it a push, to get it moving along," Poleto said. "We have lots of tools in our back pocket we could use if conditions develop just right, and if they're necessary to protect private property and so on."
Poleto has been involved in helping monitor and addressing ice jam flooding in the City of Buffalo since 1992. In those 34 years of experience, he knows every year brings something different to the table.
"Just when I think I've seen everything and I've seen every ice run and every blockage, Mother Nature throws something else at you," Poleto said. "We always have to be prepared, we always have to be alert when that warmer weather, those temperatures and when the rainfall introduces that water into the creek and the creek begins to run. We always make sure we put eyes on the creek so we can identify spots where the ice may start to jam up. And when it jams, then it starts backing up water."
With spring around the corner, Poleto jokes that there's two seasons that come about during spring in Buffalo: Pothole season and ice jam season.
"We know that the warmer temperatures are starting to come, temperatures in the 50s, the extended forecast looks to be above freezing next week as well. So yeah, this is the kind of time of year that we really start thawing things out," he said.