Ice jam flood threat to continue, officials say

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

An ice jam on the Mohawk River that flooded Schenectady's Stockade, Jan. 14, 2018.

SCHENECTADY — Schenectady County Emergency Management officials are warning residents in low-lying areas near the river to watch out in the coming weeks for flooding caused by ice conditions.

The warning follows ice jam-caused flooding last weekend in low-lying areas of the Stockade helped along by warmer weather and snow melts.

Schenectady, Rotterdam and Glenville police departments on Friday passed along the county department’s warning and advised residents of those areas to be prepared to evacuate should the need arise.

Emergency management officials will notify impacted residents through the county’s emergency call system.

The system notifies residents with listed landline phones. For residents with unlisted numbers or whose primary phone is a cell phone, they can register online for notifications through the Schenectady County Rapid Notify Emergency Call System at www.schenectadycounty.com/rapidnotify .

In the near term, the next flooding threat would likely be Monday into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures this weekend are expected to be in the upper 30s to low 40s, though not high enough to trigger substantial melts, meteorologist Joe Cebulko said Friday.

Rain Monday that will start as a wintry mix then turn to all rain by Monday evening is expected to bring the next chance for flooding into Tuesday, Cebulko said.

“It doesn’t look like it should be as much of a threat as with the previous event,” Cebulko said, “but it’s virtually impossible to know how the river and specifically the ice is going to respond.”