Heavy winds are causing chaos across the northeastern United States, including travel delays and power outages. But on New York’s Lake Erie, winds blew a wall of ice onto the shore, videos show.
The Niagara Parks Police Service posted video footage to Twitter showing ice stacked up along the shore near the road.
The police force said that “strong winds” are blowing the ice over Lake Erie’s retaining wall on the Niagara River Parkway near Mathers Arch. “Drive with caution,” it said.
Other Twitter users shared photos of the ice wall in Canada.
“An incredible sight along the Niagara River in Fort Erie as strong winds from today’s storm have pushed hundreds of chunks of ice on shore over barriers,” wrote Cody Law, tweeting from Ontario.
“This ice tsunami is one of the craziest things I’ve ever witnessed,” David Piano wrote, adding the ice is “starting to bulldoze trees and street lamps.”
“The ice boom is designed to submerge during high wind and high water events, allowing ice to overtop the boom. The flooding is not due to the ice boom. This is a wind-driven event,” the agency tweeted.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Buffalo also warned that winds in Lake Ontario could reach 75 mph.
Those winds were described as “very strong” and “damaging” by the office.
“Buildings which are under construction and older, deteriorating buildings may experience significant damage or even collapse,” the NWS said.
Adding that it’s a “particularly dangerous” event, the office advised people not to travel or at least be aware of extensive damage in the area.
If the winds get too strong, one should seek shelter in a building.
“Temperatures will plummet to below freezing as we progress through the early evening hours,” it also warned, adding it will result in “rapid freezing” along untreated roads, according to the NWS. This could cause black ice.
Large chunks of ice around the Hoover Beach area of Hamburg, New York, forced officials to issue a voluntary evacuation order.
