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Ice jam flood water damage in Buffalo, NY

Flood water from an ice jam on a creek, with extraction, drying and cellar cleanup in Buffalo and across Erie County.

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Ice Jam Flooding

Ice Jam Flood Water Damage: what it covers

Quick answer

Ice jam flood water damage is the water left in cellars, ground floors and crawl spaces when a creek backs up behind floating or frozen ice. Buffalo Water Damage Restoration answers calls around the clock, serves Buffalo and the towns around it, and starts with extraction before drying.

Ice Jam Flood Water Damage illustration for Buffalo, NY, with the city skyline in the background

An ice jam is what happens when a creek's ice breaks up in a thaw and the pieces lodge against a bridge, a bend or a narrow section of channel. The water behind the jam has nowhere to go, so it climbs over the banks and into the streets and cellars nearby. The flood can arrive quickly, and it can last long enough to soak a cellar wall, a floor and the framing above it before the water finally drops.

Buffalo's flood record includes several such events. The National Weather Service Buffalo office's history pages describe ice-jam flooding in February 1984, when warm weather produced jams across the Buffalo area, and hundreds of basements in south Buffalo took a foot or more of water. In February 1985, snowmelt and rain jammed Cazenovia, Buffalo and Cayuga creeks, and hundreds of residents were evacuated. In February 2001, rain and warm temperatures flooded Cazenovia Creek in West Seneca and Buffalo.

When a cellar is flooded by an ice jam, the water is usually a mix of creek water, groundwater and whatever washed in from outside. It is rarely clean. A crew treats it as a contaminated source until it has checked the water and the materials it touched. Call (833) 490-5225 to report a flood as soon as the water is inside, because the first hours decide how much of the cellar can be saved.

Service area
Buffalo & Erie County
Availability
Phones answered 24/7, emergencies first
Warning signs

Signs you need ice jam flood water damage

Do not enter a flooded cellar until the power is off and the stairs have been checked. Flood water can hide a broken step, a sagging joist and a live cord. Do not run a gas appliance that has been under water, and do not use a portable generator indoors or in a garage that connects to the house. Ice-jam water from a creek is not clean, so keep it off your skin and wash your hands after any contact.

  • Muddy or silty water in the cellar, with a fine layer of sediment left on the floor after it drains
  • A sharp, earthy smell that lingers for days after the water has gone
  • A tide line on the basement walls at the height of the flood
  • Damp stones, block or poured concrete that stay dark long after the floor looks dry
  • Efflorescence, the white powder on masonry, that appears within days of the water
  • Soft or swollen wood at the bottom of the stairs, the sill plate or the joists
  • Heating equipment, a water heater or a furnace sitting in standing water or on a wet floor
Our process

How our ice jam flood water damage visit works

  1. Make the cellar safe to enter

    Electricity in a flooded cellar is the first hazard, so the power to the area is switched off at the panel before anyone goes down the stairs. The crew checks the stairs, the floor joists and any gas or oil equipment before it enters the water.

  2. Extract the standing water in stages

    Ice-jam water is pumped out in stages rather than all at once, because a cellar that is emptied too fast can put pressure on walls that have been soaked. Submersible pumps and hoses carry the water out to a discharge point away from the foundation.

  3. Remove the silt and the soaked materials

    A flood leaves silt on the floor and on the bottom of the walls. The silt is shoveled or vacuumed out, and anything that stays wet and cannot be cleaned, such as carpet, pad, insulation, particleboard and stored cardboard, is removed and bagged.

  4. Dry the walls, floor and framing

    Masonry and concrete hold water and are dried slowly with air movers and dehumidifiers that run for as long as the readings require. The crew checks the wall plate and the bottom of the joists, because water rises into the wood even when the floor looks dry.

  5. Check the building above the cellar

    Water that rose into the framing can reach the first floor through the sill and the subfloor. The technician takes readings on the ground floor and the lower walls, and records them, so the owner knows whether the damage stops at the cellar.

Job stories

Typical jobs for ice jam flood water damage

Typical job
Illustration: Creek water and silt in a cellar after a thaw

Creek water and silt in a cellar after a thaw

What homeowners notice
After a thaw the owner finds a few inches of cloudy water on the cellar floor, with a fine grey silt on the floor and a damp line on the stone walls. The water came in through a window well when the creek behind the property rose.
What we do
The crew cuts power to the cellar at a dry panel, extracts the water in stages, and shovels out the silt before any drying equipment is set. The masonry is read with moisture meters at several heights, the sill plate and first joists are checked from above, and the wall plate is dried before the cellar is closed up.
What to expect
Readings in the wall fall over the visits until they reach a dry level, and the owner receives the log, the photographs of the water line and a note on the window well that let the water in.

Most of a working day on site typical visit

What should you do first if an ice jam floods your cellar?

Keep out of the water, switch off power to the cellar at the panel from a dry spot, and call for help. Do not enter a flooded cellar until the electricity is off and the stairs have been checked.

The first job is safety. Flood water can hide an open stair, a sagging joist or a live cord, and the water that came from a creek is not clean. Stand on the top step, not in the water, and switch off the cellar power from the panel if the panel is dry and reachable. If it is not, call the utility and keep everyone upstairs until the power is confirmed off.

Once the area is safe, try to stop more water from coming in. Check the window wells and the bulkhead door, and move anything that can be moved to higher ground. Photograph the water line on the walls and the level on the stored boxes and furniture. Then call (833) 490-5225 so a crew can be sent as soon as one is free.

  • Stay out of the water and keep others away from the stairs
  • Cut power at the panel only if it is dry and reachable
  • Block window wells and check the bulkhead if you can do so safely
  • Photograph the water line and the damage before moving items
  • Report the source, the depth and any gas equipment in the flooded area

Why does ice-jam water leave so much silt behind?

Creek water carries fine sediment that settles on every surface as the flood drops. The silt holds moisture and has to be removed before drying, because it traps water against floors and walls.

A creek in flood moves a great deal of fine material, and much of it drops out as the water slows inside a building. Silt on a concrete floor looks like dried mud, but it holds moisture against the surface and feeds the musty smell that follows. The crew removes it first, because drying cannot reach the material underneath while a layer of silt is sitting on top.

Silt also clogs floor drains and sump pits. The crew checks those openings so the drying equipment and any pumps can work. Anything porous that the silt has reached, such as cardboard, insulation, fabric and the lower foot of drywall, is assessed and removed where it cannot be cleaned and dried.

How long can a cellar wall stay wet after a flood?

A masonry or concrete wall can hold moisture for a long time, so the drying is slower than the extraction. The crew keeps taking readings until the wall reaches its dry level, and the owner receives a log of those readings.

Concrete, block and stone absorb water and release it slowly. A wall can look dry on the surface while its inside still holds a great deal of moisture, which is why the technician takes readings at several depths and heights. The drying is not finished when the floor is dry; it is finished when the readings show the wall has returned to its normal level.

Wood framing at the top of a basement wall is checked separately. The sill plate and the bottom of the joists can take water from the flood even when the wall beneath them drains quickly. The crew checks those points with a moisture meter and notes any reading that stays high, so the owner can see where the problem is still present.

Does an ice-jam flood mean the whole house is damaged?

Not always. Damage depends on how high the water rose, how long it stood, and whether it reached the framing and the first floor. Readings on each floor show how far the water travelled, and the work stops where the readings show the damage ends.

A cellar flood can stay in the cellar, or it can travel into the framing and reach the ground floor through the subfloor. The depth on the walls gives a first clue, and the moisture readings give the rest. A technician who finds high readings above the flood line will say so, and will explain what is being done about them.

A flood in a cellar can reach the stairs, the furnace, the water heater and the storage that sits on the floor. The crew records each of those items and marks what it has checked, so the owner knows which parts of the house have been measured and which have not.

What moves the cost of ice-jam flood cleanup?

The depth of the water, the time it stayed, the amount of silt, and how many materials are soaked all change the work. The price is explained and approved on site before any work starts, and no figure is given on this page.

Flood cleanup costs more when the water was deep, when it stood for a long time and when it reached finished walls and floors. Silt removal, the number of soaked items and the drying time all add to the scope. A cellar with a finished ceiling and carpeted rooms takes more handling than a bare masonry cellar with a concrete floor.

Access also matters. A narrow stair, a low ceiling or a cellar with stored goods makes every step slower. The crew describes the scope in plain terms, shows the readings and the materials it expects to remove, and explains the price before any equipment is set up.

Options

Types and options for ice jam flood water damage

Cellar flooding from a creek ice jam

This is the most common picture in the sources: a cellar filled from outside as the creek rose behind a jam. The water comes through walls, window wells and the floor, and the crew works from the bottom up, removing silt and drying the masonry in the order the water arrived.

Groundwater rise during a thaw

Sometimes the ice jam raises the water table before the creek itself reaches a house, and groundwater seeps through the floor and the cellar walls. The water may come in slowly and keep coming for a day, so the crew checks the floor drain and the sump, and watches the readings through the work.

Flood water through a window well or bulkhead

A cellar with a bulkhead or a low window well can take water from outside through a gap that looks minor from the street. The crew looks for the entry point first, because water that is still coming in will undo the extraction and drying that follow.

Ground-floor water from a flooded yard

Where the water covers a yard and reaches the sill, a ground floor can take water through the doors and the lower walls. The crew extracts the rooms, lifts the floor coverings that cannot be dried in place, and checks the subfloor before it sets the equipment.

Erie County

Why ice jam flood water damage is different in Western New York

Buffalo's creek flood record is not abstract. The National Weather Service's Buffalo history describes February 1984, when hundreds of basements in south Buffalo took a foot or more of water during ice-jam flooding. That event is why cellar extraction and silt removal are treated as the first steps here, before any drying begins.

Cazenovia Creek runs south of the city, and the creek was among those jammed in February 1985, when hundreds of residents were evacuated. The February 2001 flood reached West Seneca and Buffalo, which means the creek's flood reach has crossed municipal lines more than once. A crew working near the creek corridor checks the lower floors first, because that is where the water is most likely to have settled.

Scajaquada Creek is a different case. Part of it was placed in an underground drain in the 1920s, after Buffalo voters declared it a public nuisance, according to a regional heritage account. A cellar near a buried watercourse is not easy to judge from the street, so the crew reads the water pattern in the building itself rather than assuming the source from the street map.

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Where we work

Ice Jam Flood Water Damage across Erie County

Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.

Related

Emergency Water Extraction

Standing water is pumped out of floors, cellars and carpet before drying begins, in Buffalo and across Erie County.

Crawl Space and Cellar Moisture

Water and damp held in crawl spaces and cellars after a flood or a leak, with readings, drying and a check of the wall plate.

Cazenovia Creek Overflow Damage

Water left by an overflowing creek in ground floors, cellars and yards, with extraction and drying across Erie County.

Mold After Water Damage

Mold that follows a leak or flood, what New York requires for mold work, and how drying limits the growth in Buffalo.

Guides

Read before you book

FAQ

Ice Jam Flood Water Damage FAQs

How much water can an ice jam leave in a Buffalo cellar?

Water depth varies with the flood. The National Weather Service Buffalo history describes south Buffalo basements in February 1984 that took a foot or more of water during an ice-jam flood. The depth in any one cellar is measured on site.

Why does the cellar smell so bad after an ice-jam flood?

Creek water carries silt, organic matter and bacteria, and the silt holds moisture against the floor and walls for days. Removing the silt and drying the masonry are the steps that stop the smell from building.

Can I save the carpet in my cellar?

Carpet and pad that have been soaked in creek water are usually removed, because they cannot be cleaned and dried to a safe condition. A technician decides item by item and explains the reason.

Should I keep the sump pump running?

A sump pump can help remove water, but it must be on a working circuit and must discharge away from the foundation. If the power is off or the pump is under water, it cannot work safely, so ask the crew how to handle it.

Will the water come back if the creek rises again?

Water that enters a cellar from outside can return during the next thaw or heavy rain. Repairs to the window well, the bulkhead or the foundation may be needed to stop the entry, and a crew can point out which openings took the water.

Does the flood history mean my street will flood?

The sources describe ice-jam floods in several years, but they do not say which streets flood in future. The records show that the risk is real across the region, and the best check is to ask the crew to look at the water line in your own building.

What does insurance cover after an ice-jam flood?

That depends on the policy, including whether it has a flood or water backup endorsement. Keep photographs and the crew's records, and ask your insurer what it needs. The New York State Department of Financial Services regulates insurers and can answer general questions about claims.

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