A tsunami of ice: Lake Erie shoreline takes a beating

A massive buildup of ice poured over the banks of Lake Erie and onto the shoreline in Fort Erie, Ontario.Tara Walton/The Canadian Press/AP/The Canadian Press via AP

BUFFALO — High winds raised water levels and sent giant ice chunks spilling over the banks of the Niagara River across from Buffalo, creating a jagged barrier between the river and a scenic road.

Footage captured by Canadian parks police shows massive chunks tumbling over each other to create the wall in Fort Erie, Ontario, on Sunday.

Ice mounds 25 to 30 feet high also came ashore farther south, piling up on several lakefront properties in suburban Hamburg, N.Y.

‘‘We’ve had storms in the past, but nothing like this,’’ Dave Schultz told WGRZ-TV. ‘‘We’ve never had the ice pushed up against the walls and right up onto our patios. . . . It’s in my patio, the neighbor’s patio, and the patio after that.’’

‘‘It’s awesome! Crazy and awesome at the same time,’’ said Rose Hirshbeck of Hamburg as she braced against bitter, buffeting winds to snap photos of the mounds which stretched along the shoreline as far as the eye could see. ‘‘This is unbelievable.’’

More than 65,000 power outages were reported around upstate New York Monday morning as high winds rattled the region for a second day.

Hundreds of schools had cancellations or delays.

‘‘I have my daughter with me. We’re off from school so came down to check out the ice,’’ said Chris Karys of Blasdell, N.Y., who pulled over along the Lake Erie shoreline in Hamburg. He picked up a basketball-sized chunk of ice and posed for a photo in front of the towering piles.

‘‘I've seen some of the ice before,’’ said Karys, who went to high school nearby, ‘‘but nothing as high as this.’’

High winds had raised the water levels on the eastern end of Lake Erie in a phenomenon known as a seiche, according to the New York Power Authority. The ice was then pushed over a boom upstream from the river.

Advising that NPC Roads Department closing the Niagara River Parkway near Mathers Arch. Strong winds blowing ice over the retaining wall from the lake. Drive with caution. Video courtesy NRPS Insp. Joe Garvey....

Posted by The Niagara Parks Police Service on Sunday, February 24, 2019