Ice jam, flood threat prompts public warning in Maritimes

Tuesday, March 29, 2016, 9:23 AM - New Brunswick's River Watch issued its first public advisory of the season on Monday, ahead of the arrival of a moisture packed system.

Heavy rain picked up through the overnight hours on Monday, threatening water levels and ice flows over the next couple of days.

"Temperatures and rainfall are conducive to melting the snow pack and ice covers in all regions," said River Watch in the public alert. "Ice may be moving along the St. John River and other river systems. There is potential for ice jams and associated flooding."

Officials are already warning of four current ice jams:

• Aroostook River: between Tinker to Masadis;
• Nashwaak River: between Stanley and Cross Creek about two kilometres in length;
• St. John River: between Grand Falls to Nine Mile; and
• Southwest Miramichi River: Bloomfield Ridge at Norrad Bridge, extending 3.8 kilometres upstream.

"This is a continuously changing situation, and people are asked to be on the alert for ice movement and rising water levels," River Watch says.

Those living along rivers, streams and tributaries are being warned to prepare for further advisories as water levels could rapidly increase.

ICE RESCUE IN P.E.I.

On Sunday, the Charlottetown Fire Department had to deal with its first water rescue of the season. They tweeted a photo of two children stranded on an ice floe in the Hillsborough River near Acadian Drive Sunday afternoon.

The children were out playing when the ice they were jumping on floated away from the shoreline. Two of their friends managed to jump off the ice in time but, but the two on the ice floe were rescued by the fire department's banana boat. Twenty-five firefighters were involved in the rescue.

Police officials tweeted the photos as a reminder of the changing temperatures and unsafe ice conditions in spring.