Dangerous Ice Jam Builds On The Kalamazoo River

As if persisting high water levels to begin with wasn’t bad enough – an ice jam has developed along the Kalamazoo River in the immediate Kalamazoo area.The National Weather Service has a flood warning posted for the central portion of Kalamazoo County as a result.  The river has already been high for the last few weeks, and then went much higher with the heavy rains from last weekend. Most of the river’s normal floodplain areas have been filled with high water for the last couple weeks. The ice jam is about halfway between Kalamazoo and Comstock. The river is going over its banks in Comstock. The flooding is easily viewed at Comstock’s Merrill Park.

There are no plans at this point to attempt to break up the ice jam. The warning is in effect through mid-day Thursday. But that could change at any moment. People living near the river especially from Comstock back toward Galesburg, should monitor the situation closely. And once the jam breaks up, downriver areas will experience a surge.