KENT — Traffic on Route 7 started flowing again about midday Thursday, after flooding from the nearby Housatonic River began to recede.
The mile-long ice dam that caused the flooding was still in place, however, and authorities say they do not expect it to break up anytime soon.
State Rep. Brian Ohler, who represents the area in Hartford, said there are no plans to break up the dam using dynamite or a wrecking ball, as some have suggested. But after a 90-minute briefing Wednesday night involving federal, state and local officials, authorities said they have resources and contingency plans in place if conditions worsen.
Nearly four miles of Route 7 had been closed since since Saturday, when water backing up behind the ice dam poured onto the roadway and froze. Department of Transportation officials removed large blocks of ice and inspected the road before re-opening it Thursday, Ohler said.
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Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week.
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week.
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding shool, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding shool, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
A mile-long ice dam formed near downtown Kent over the weekend, flooding homes and forcing the Kent School, a private boarding school, to close for the week. Jan. 15, 2018
Photo: Barry Lytton / Hearst Connecticut Media
State Representative Brian Ohler who represents the 64th district said the flooding on Jan. 13, 2018, in Kent, Conn., was caused by an ice jam. Shortly after 4:40 p.m., Ohler said the Kent School hockey rick was surrounded by rising flood waters from the Housatonic River.
lessState Representative Brian Ohler who represents the 64th district said the flooding on Jan. 13, 2018, in Kent, Conn., was caused by an ice jam. Shortly after 4:40 p.m., Ohler said the Kent School hockey
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A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media
State Representative Brian Ohler (R-North Canaan) said the flooding on Jan. 13, 2018, in Kent, Conn., was caused by an ice jam. He shared a photo of the Housatonic River in Kent, covered in blocks of ice.
State Representative Brian Ohler (R-North Canaan) said the flooding on Jan. 13, 2018, in Kent, Conn., was caused by an ice jam. He shared a photo of the Housatonic River in Kent, covered in blocks of ice.
Photo: Contributed Photo / Brian Ohler / Contributed Photo
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday, January 14, 2018.
Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday.
A massive ice jam and flooding has closed Route 7, from Route 341 to Bulls Bridge in Kent Sunday.
Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media
Route 7 reopens after flooding, but Kent ice dam still in place
The dam, up to 12 feet thick in spots stretches about half a mile in each direction from the Route 341 bridge just west of Kent center. A second, smaller dam former downriver, near Route 7’s intersection with Birch Hill Lane.
Officials hope a slow thaw will gradually reduce the dam’s size and avoid sudden flooding downstream, particularly in New Milford.
Britt Westergard, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Albany, said several days of temperatures averaging 43 degrees would be needed to melt the ice slowly enough to allow for a gradual breakup of the dam.
But with rain forecast for early next week, a second round of flooding is “certainly a possibility,” she said.
“Any kind of heavy rainfall combined with a snow-melt event could lift the river up [and] could certainly cause new flooding issues,” Westergard said.
The best-case scenario, officials said, is for ice to break up on the southern edge of the dam, Ohler said.
Downstream, New Milford is bracing for flooding in low-lying areas near Veteran’s Bridge.
“We have a traffic plan in place for areas that may flood,” Mayor Pete Bass wrote in a statement. “We have contacted the car dealers on (Route 7) by Veterans Bridge for cars to be moved in case of flooding.”
If people are flooded out of their homes, Bass wrote, shelters would be made available.
So far, 12 people in Kent have been evacuaded from their homes and the Kent School, a private boarding school with nearly 600 students, sent all students home for the week.
At a news conference Wednesday, Ohler warned residents to watch out for fundraising scams tied to the flooding.
“There have been some scam issues going on,” Ohler said. “When circumstances like this arise, GoFundMe pages, other avenues of fundraising, are quickly put out there and they can often reference local family names. If you do see something on social media or you receive an email from someone trying to benefit or receive financial gain from this emergency, yield caution, and just be careful of who you are donating to.”
blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
