Ice Floe Moves Downriver, Swells Banks Near Gunnison

GUNNISON, Colo. (CBS4) - Extreme cold conditions on the Taylor River, which feeds into the Gunnison River, are causing massive blocks of ice to flow downstream.

The Three Rivers Resort in Almont captured images of an ice jam flowing down the Taylor River, which meets with the East River to form the Gunnison River.

The Gunnison Regional 911 Center alerted residents around Gunnison to beware changing conditions by sharing the video.

"We do have deep concerns about it. The ice floe is taking on the personality of a lava flow. We're not necessarily able to predict where this will go," said Gunnison County Sheriff Rick Besecker.

Ice walls were seen bordering the river's banks, but when an ice jam broke loose it caused a fast moving ice floe. A video posted by the resort on Tuesday shows the river swelling from all the additional ice, a scene reminiscent of spring melt runoff despite temperatures below zero.

The resort said four feet of the ice floe was pushed into a neighbor's basement across the river, and that it pushed up to the base of their river cabins, causing grills and tables to be jammed between chunks of ice.

Sheriff Besecker said they are not aware of any road or structure damage, though, "there are some low lying structures near the river bank we're monitoring."

As for the bitter cold, he said it was 26 degrees below zero Wednesday morning.