People’s Homes Near Lake Erie Get Covered In Thick Ice, They Say It Looks Cool But It’s A Nightmare To Live In
People living on the East Coast over Lake Erie in New York can’t believe what they’re going through. Over the weekend, their houses were ravaged by gale-force winds and 15-foot waves from the lake which encased the structures in 1-to-3 inch thick ice.
“It looks fake, it looks unreal,” local resident Ed Mis told CNN. “It’s dark on the inside of my house. It can be a little eerie, a little frightening.”
The man said that there was no ice in his yard on Thursday but by Friday morning, his home and others’ homes were completely covered.
Elyse Smith, a meteorologist at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, NY, told Bored Panda that it was a combination of lake water coming ashore, gale-force winds, and below-freezing temperatures that caused these extreme ice homes. “On Wednesday, February 26th, a blizzard warning and lakeshore flood warning were issued for the eastern shoreline of Lake Erie in New York state, including the Hoover Beach area. These warnings came ahead of a winter storm that would impact Western New York on February 27th and 28th.”
“This storm brought gale-force winds and heavy snow which continued on and off for two days,” Smith said. “Specifically for the lakeshore, the big problem was that Lake Erie was not frozen over. This allowed waves to crash onshore (the waves were 10-to-14 feet high). Some waves even reached 18 feet. So, these ice homes developed as lake water continuously crashed on shore, carried by winds gusting up to 55 mph with temperatures well below freezing, allowing for ice to develop and amass along the shoreline.”
Image credits: elysesmithwx
Image credits: elysesmithwx
“One important note is that the homes at Hoover Beach typically take on a little ice each year because of the topography of that part of the shoreline,” Smith added. “However, this was the most extreme the ice has ever been in that area and it was primarily because of the duration of the storm conditions. The ice kept amassing as waves crashed onshore and the strong winds carried excess water further inland.”
After footage of the frozen neighborhood went viral, it has even become a tourist attraction. However, police officials are asking visitors to stay away for their own safety.
Local police issued a statement on Sunday informing that sightseers could also face trespassing charges if they choose to disobey. “Not only is the ice extremely unsafe and unstable, [but the majority is also] in areas which are private property,” they said.
Image credits: AP
In the meantime, residents are worried the ice could damage their homes. “We’re worried about the integrity of structure failure when it starts to melt because of the weight on the roof,” Mis said.
Sean Crotty, Hamburg’s emergency manager, told Today that a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, and when you look at all the ice that’s on these buildings, structural collapse is definitely a possibility.
“The community has been seeing more than their fair share of situations between wind damage and the Halloween storm and an ice shove at the end of February,” Crotty said. “In the last year, they’ve endured probably a half dozen really heavy-duty storms that have caused damage to their homes, seawalls and private property.”
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Photos of the area immediately went viral on social media
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And here’s what people said about them
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And, imagine what its doing to all the pipes! It looks awesome, but the damage from that is going to be horrifying.
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I wonder so many things- do people live in those houses or are they just like weekend/holiday getaways? If they do live there, do they stay there until it melts and just go on with everyday life? What's it like inside, is it completely dark or? Does it significantly drop the temperature inside, is it hard to warm up? And many more
How much structural damage can this cause? For every drop of water that wedged into a crack or crevice, and expanded as it froze, (not to mention buckets and buckets of freezing water!), how much damage will this ensure? I'd be scared to be a homeowner there. The photos are amazing though. Crazy!
I pressed the title just to write "no s**t Sherlock". No s**t Sherlock.
You don't have to be right on the lakefront to get tagged by Lake Erie. A phenomenon bythe name of 'Lake Erie Effect' means the weather forecast consists of tossing a nickel in the air. If it comes down warm, it's sunny. Wet, it's raining. And cold, it's snowing. We had the Blizzard of '77 (and cars buried in snow till June,) another blizzard in '95, when they had to make a tunnel through a 20' X 20' drift of snow to get the buses through; a county-wide ice storm that paralyzed the area for almost a week, 7 feet of snow, which did the same...
My heart aches for these people, their families, and pets. This must be a horrible experience to endure. So many different ways the ice is going to damage their possessions, trees and landscape, outbuildings, pets/wildlife, and homes. It's just horribly sad to think of what this must be like to try to live through. I wish them all strength, safety, and support for each other.
Are people there stuck in their houses? Are only two sides of the houses covered in ice? For some it looks as if also the main entrance is inaccessible.
Depends on the wind patterns around the house. If they're in a 'straight' wind, it might be one side, and maybe some exposed bits. But the Lake winds are odd, and in some places just--swirl, so it could well coat the whole house. In that case, you have to choose between staying trapped inside or possibly breaking the door to break the ice.
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I feel terrible for those people but the images are breathtaking. I am always amazed at what Mother Nature can do.
My heart goes out to everyone of these people. The damage must be astronomical! Please, won't someone listen to those words the Scientists keep saying: GLOBAL WARMING!!!!I It's not a joke people, it's for real!
looks like someone covered it in yarn lol... my sister lives near there hope shes ok
On the one hand I understand it's not easy for the owners and residents and all the tourists now don't make things easier either. On the other hand: It looks so cool and beautiful, almost like gingerbread houses or like everything is covered with whipped cream and other types of frosting. Also looks like Elsa was there :D
This is a lot late saw this on the weather network 3 days ago. Still looks like art almost
And, imagine what its doing to all the pipes! It looks awesome, but the damage from that is going to be horrifying.
Load More Replies... I wonder so many things- do people live in those houses or are they just like weekend/holiday getaways? If they do live there, do they stay there until it melts and just go on with everyday life? What's it like inside, is it completely dark or? Does it significantly drop the temperature inside, is it hard to warm up? And many more
How much structural damage can this cause? For every drop of water that wedged into a crack or crevice, and expanded as it froze, (not to mention buckets and buckets of freezing water!), how much damage will this ensure? I'd be scared to be a homeowner there. The photos are amazing though. Crazy!
I pressed the title just to write "no s**t Sherlock". No s**t Sherlock.
You don't have to be right on the lakefront to get tagged by Lake Erie. A phenomenon bythe name of 'Lake Erie Effect' means the weather forecast consists of tossing a nickel in the air. If it comes down warm, it's sunny. Wet, it's raining. And cold, it's snowing. We had the Blizzard of '77 (and cars buried in snow till June,) another blizzard in '95, when they had to make a tunnel through a 20' X 20' drift of snow to get the buses through; a county-wide ice storm that paralyzed the area for almost a week, 7 feet of snow, which did the same...
My heart aches for these people, their families, and pets. This must be a horrible experience to endure. So many different ways the ice is going to damage their possessions, trees and landscape, outbuildings, pets/wildlife, and homes. It's just horribly sad to think of what this must be like to try to live through. I wish them all strength, safety, and support for each other.
Are people there stuck in their houses? Are only two sides of the houses covered in ice? For some it looks as if also the main entrance is inaccessible.
Depends on the wind patterns around the house. If they're in a 'straight' wind, it might be one side, and maybe some exposed bits. But the Lake winds are odd, and in some places just--swirl, so it could well coat the whole house. In that case, you have to choose between staying trapped inside or possibly breaking the door to break the ice.
Load More Replies... I feel terrible for those people but the images are breathtaking. I am always amazed at what Mother Nature can do.
My heart goes out to everyone of these people. The damage must be astronomical! Please, won't someone listen to those words the Scientists keep saying: GLOBAL WARMING!!!!I It's not a joke people, it's for real!
looks like someone covered it in yarn lol... my sister lives near there hope shes ok
On the one hand I understand it's not easy for the owners and residents and all the tourists now don't make things easier either. On the other hand: It looks so cool and beautiful, almost like gingerbread houses or like everything is covered with whipped cream and other types of frosting. Also looks like Elsa was there :D
This is a lot late saw this on the weather network 3 days ago. Still looks like art almost
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