With a flood warning in effect today for Buffalo Creek, city crews are out making sure waterways continue to flow smoothly.Despite ten foot water levels at a flood gauge in Gardenville, earlier on Monday, Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Steven Stepniak is confident that ice jams won’t cause water levels to become a concern within the city limits.
“We’ve got crews that are checking that and monitoring that, and we feel that some of the slow warm-up will relieve some of that pressure and hopefully move that out of there,” said Stepniak.
Stepniak says crews have been breaking ice on area waterways and creating relief cuts since mid-February to alleviate pressure and avoid flooding. Stepniak says flood gauges are showing that water levels have stabilized. He says thanks to limited precipitation, there hasn’t been any drastic melting.
With an additional flood watch is in effect for much of Western New York through tomorrow morning, Stepniak says teams will keep watch overnight.
“We put some monitor folks on through the night – we’ll do that – just so we can be fully aware of any movement. We will do that tonight. Last night it wasn’t necessary. But we’re going to do that tonight just to see what little precipitation we get and how that affects the movement of the ice,” said Stepniak.
Stepniak seems confident that flood concerns are minimal.
