ST. CLAIR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Operation Coal Shovel, as it’s called by the U.S. Coast Guard, is now underway in the St Clair River. A number of U.S. and Canadian ice breakers are traveling up and down the river breaking up ice jams, but not before they caused massive flooding.
Some neighborhoods from Algonac to Port Huron are covered in sheets of ice, some homes filled with freezing cold water.
The flooding is still not over yet. The massive amount of ice is creating uncertainty on when it will all clear, while the arctic air coming into the region only makes matters worse.
“There's still water in peoples houses that they still are trying to get rid of and the cutters are still out there trying to keep the river system going,” said Jeremiah Schiessel with the U.S. Coast Guard Detroit Sector.
The ice cutters have been on the river since Thursday, and now 2 more are being sent in relief. The Biscayne Bay, homeported in St. Ignace and the Morro Bay which is homeported in Cleveland were en route along the Great Lakes Saturday night.
“We’re really planning for the next few days that we’ll be out there hitting it hard,” Schiessel said.
