Ice dam on Delaware River continues to cause headaches

A mile-long ice dam jamming up the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey and Morrisville, Pennsylvania continues to cause headaches for residents and county officials.

Currently, officials report the water is moving through despite the ice, and the river is about four feet below flood levels.

However, the rain forecast for the weekend could cause more trouble, says Joe Miketta, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

“With the ground frozen, everywhere basically, a lot of the rain is going to run off into the streams and rivers,” explained Miketta. “There is still some ice in the river, further upstream from Trenton, and that has to move through. Between that and the increased volume of water we have to keep an eye on it through the weekend.”

Miketta says it would take several days of warmer temperatures and no rain for the ice dam to break up fully.

Officials in Lower Makefield Township in Bucks County say they will continue to monitor the situation. Some local roads are closed because of flooding and ice.

Kenneth Coluzzi, chief of police and emergency management coordinator for Lower Makefield says Route 32 (River Road) will remain closed between Black Rock Road and Trenton Avenue due to ice and flooding. “We are watching the levels on the river, we are concerned about more water on the highways, we don’t believe that any homes are in danger on the Bucks County side at this point, but we’re watching that closely.”

Coluzzi urged drivers not to try and get around barriers, because conditions on the closed roads are very dangerous.