BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Cliff Dodge has been on river watch all day long, his dairy stand sits along the banks of the Winooski River in Montpelier.
"It receded about a foot and a half today," Dodge said. "That's the second time it was that high and it only takes 15 to 20 minutes and it goes right back down and about 15 to 20 minutes it will be back up again."
Dodge knows all too well feeling helpless against the wrath of the Winooski river. From winter ice jams to spring flooding.
"And that's why I stay here all day to make sure that if I need to get in there and do something I can," he said.
Vermont Emergency Management officials are encouraging those in areas prone to flooding to stay alert through Friday morning.
The rivers will probably not crest until somewhere between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. Thursday night," said Joe Flynn with Vermont Emergency Management. "So what may look like an okay situation for you now may change between now and midnight."
Ice jams and water woes have caused trouble across the region. Part of North Williston Road in Williston was shut down early Thursday evening due to flooding and in Champlain, New York officials are keeping an eye on an ice jam on the Great Chazy River. So far, no one's been evacuated there.
Flooded roads are turning to ice as the temps drop overnight and officials are urging drivers to use caution. Officials are hopeful we've seen the worst.
"With the temps about to drop and wind speeds about to pick up with respect to river rise it's a positive movement for us," explained Flynn.
Though the threat of significant flooding is ebbing, for Cliff Dodge the threat is becoming all too common.
"Floods seem to happen a lot lately in the last few years," he said. "The first five or ten years that I owned this business we didn't have anywhere near this fear."
A fear he says won't go away, so he'll just keep waiting and watching the Winooski River.
