Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 125-year-old Fireboat E.M. Cotter could be seen churning its way through the chunky ice of the Buffalo River on Tuesday, clearing a path for water to flow in advance of a dramatic warmup and soaking rainfall.
The combination of the mild temps and rainfall are the recipe for ice jam flooding, and breaking the ice in the river can help clear the path for water and ice to flow freely to Lake Erie and not back up on the shore along local waterways.
Cotter captain, Lt. Michael Kick of the Buffalo Fire Department, navigated the heavy icebreaking vessel up the Buffalo River, slowly blasting through the gnarly ice chunks and opening the waterway to flow more freely.
Temperatures well into the 50s and near 60 degrees, along with rainfall, are in the forecast for Wednesday, before the weather, again, turns more winter-like Thursday and into the weekend.
