CARLTON, N.Y. — Monday brought plentiful sunshine, warm temperatures, calm winds and placid waters to Lake Ontario.
Despite the respite, shoreline residents remain on high alert for conditions which could change their tranquility and endanger their properties through flooding.
“If we get any nor’easter or anything close to that we’re in trouble,” said Lynne M. Johnson, Chairperson of the Orleans County Legislature, who says the threat remains for flooding the likes of which were seen in 2017.
However, the lake level –which is high- isn’t as high as it was when those floods occurred two years ago.
“We’re about a foot below that so we have some wiggle room….and we’re better prepared than we were back then,” said Dale Banker, the Director of Emergency Services for the county.
Local officials were joined on Monday by Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY 27th) in bashing the International Joint Commission (IJC), which sets the lake level though regulation of its outflow into the St. Lawrence Seaway.
“It's the lake level that was deliberately changed by the IJC’s Plan 2014, raising it by over a foot to protect the cattails and the muskrats," Collins said.
And while some were optimistic that the appointment of former Western New York Assemblywoman Jane Corwin to the commission might influence the IJC to change its policy, Corwin’s and other appointments still languish in the U.S. Senate.
“Senator Schumer has signed on with a letter that I put together asking to move these nominations quickly," Collins said.
But even if Corwin were to ascend to the board tomorrow, it would be of little comfort to address the concerns of today.
“There’s nothing Jane Corwin or anyone else could do to change the lake levels as they stand today in May of 2019,” Collins said.
Consequently…there's nothing lakeshore denizens can do but watch, wait, and hope for the best.
“The million dollar question is those high winds… and the unknowns," Banker said.
MORE ON WGRZ.COM