Winds from a huge weekend storm over the Great Lakes pushed a wall of ice on the shore of Lake Erie forcing police to shut down the Niagara River Parkway
Over the weekend, strong winds pushed ice through the Niagara River and into the lake, and eventually forced it ashore, large chunks of ice blowing over a retaining wall. Police closed the Niagara River Parkway in Fort Erie on Sunday due to the events.
People stated the “ice tsunami” was 40 feet high in spots and was “starting to bulldoze trees and street lamps”. This kind of ice shove happens when strong winds or currents take broken-up ice from the water’s surface to land and it is caused by currents and changes in temperature that usually occur in early spring, that start to weaken and break up ice.
The same thing occurred in other places along Lake Erie, such as Hoover Beach in Hamburg, New York, just outside of Buffalo. Yesterday due to high winds, besides the ice tsunami, residents were also left without power affecting homes and businesses, and causing schools to close. Authorities have issued a voluntary evacuation for Hoover Beach and asked the public to stay away from the area. They also instructed Woodlawn Fire Department to go door to door to check on residents.
Meanwhile, winds as high as 42 mph with gusts up to 62 mph were reported on Sunday at the Greater Buffalo International Airport by the National Weather Service. With Niagara Falls having peak wind gusts of 74 mph, and close to 80 mph along the Ontario coast of Lake Erie on Sunday afternoon.
