Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - As ice continues to build up on the shoreline in Hamburg, so does the threat of flooding and structural damage.
Co-owner of Hoak's Lakeshore Restaurant Kevin Hoak says thankfully the restaurant is okay for now, but that could change in the coming week.
"I guess what I'm afraid of is, with the weather becoming a little bit nicer, the ice should break up, and then maybe it will develop like a higher level, and then the wind, or the current, the water could push it closer to the break wall by the restaurant at Hoak's and even Hoover beach. All the people who live along the shoreline could be affected by that as well," stated Hoak in an interview with WBEN.
Unlike previous years, Hoak says the lake had already frozen before the it had the chance to cover everything in ice.
"Last night, for instance, there was gusts of 70 mile an hour winds, which is very dangerous. If the water wasn't frozen, the waves would be crashing up on the restaurant, and then we'd have the same effect as we did these last couple years, where the restaurant would be frozen like an ice castle. That's just a lot of weight on the restaurant," stated Hoak.
Hoak says many of the locals who live along the shoreline are accustomed to the ice buildup, but are surprised, and relieved, to see this much of the lake frozen.
"I think it's the first time the lake area has frozen in quite some time now. I mean, it's not frozen all the way out, but you're talking 3000 yards out, it looks like it's frozen. I don't know how in the middle how it's doing, but right by the edge and the shoreline, it's pretty solid. So we're fortunate about that. If it just stays like that, we're good. But you know, you just never know with Mother Nature."
