MONROE, Mich. – The pictures of the River Raisin Friday, Feb. 18, were incredible.
First, the river was filled with ice chunks, ultimately topping the water like rugged terrain. But the weight of that ice forced the water sideways into the streets, cars, and doorsteps.
“I woke up this morning about 5:20 a.m., and I saw they started putting up the road closed sign,” said resident Johnnie Moore. “I saw a little bit of the water out there.”
Moore had only been at work for a couple of hours Friday (Feb. 18) morning when he got the call to come back home, only to find the water started to surround his house.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Moore said. “I was more focused on seeing if I could get my wife and son out of here. That was my main concern, really. You can buy new stuff.”
Read: Ice jams near River Raisin cause significant flooding in Monroe
The events of Friday’s snowstorm had Monroe police helping many people, including a woman who got stuck in her car.
But how did it happen?
It’s a bit of a weather phenomenon, as explained by Local 4 meteorologist Paul Gross. Wednesday (Feb. 16) night, the rain began, and Monroe got at least an inch of it to go with all the melting snow. All that water ran into the river, which generally would flow out into Lake Erie.
But the sudden drop in temperature to below freezing along with five inches of snow for Monroe Thursday (Feb. 17) evening led to the formation of ice jams. And instead of the water going out to the lake, It went into the neighborhoods.
“I’m still surprised it all happened in the middle of February,” Moore said.
