Water levels along the Thames River continue to decline, but a massive ice jam remains in place.
However, LTVCA water management supervisor Jason Wintermute says the situation is improving.
“We’ve seen water levels drop from Chatham all the way down through the mouth of the area where there’s an ice jam causing problems. So things have become quite a bit better overnight,” says Wintermute.
Officials are reminding residents to avoid the river banks as they are covered in ice and very slippery.
“The ice does shift as it settles at lower water levels, so avoid the water, stay off the ice, the banks are slippery – try to avoid the area. But something else we’ve seen is there have been a lot of people going down to visit the area, to take a look – so that’s created some traffic problems because not all those roads are designed for two lane traffic. And especially tomorrow when the weather forecast is calling for freezing rain, the roads are going to be very slippery,” Wintermute says.
Meantime, the municipality continue to be on the scene, assessing conditions on the Thames River in West Kent where a localized State of Emergency was declared last week.
They say dike conditions continue to improve due to the drop in water levels, and railway officials are assessing the conditions of the railway bed in Jeanette’s Creek.
