Chapter Hazard Analysis

Typical ice jam locations

Source: Association of State Floodplain Managers

East Dundee, 1988 –

Edward Vucsko, 33, a salesman of industrial sewing machines, had looked out on his backyard to watch the ice-coated river begin to swell slightly over its banks.

"So I went out to put down some sandbags, thinking I’d just put a few down and go back inside," Vucsko said. "In one hour, it was like somebody jammed a rag in the drain and everything backed up. Water in the house, everything."

Source: Chicago Tribune, February 8, 1988
he East and West Dundee areas have been most susceptible to ice jams. The worst recent ice jam flooding occurred in February 1988. Winter freezing and flow conditions through January and February allowed frazil ice to form in the Fox and travel downstream towards the Interstate 90 bridge. An ice dam formed, causing the river to back up and flow out of its banks. Homes were flooded and residents were evacuated from the Richardson Subdivision in unincorporated East Dundee.

Since the 1988 flooding, two ice booms have been installed in the Fox River: one in the Carpentersville pool and the other in East Dundee. The ice booms have been operated to skim any frazil ice off of the river to allow a smooth sheet of ice to form. Further, the flows in the Fox River are controlled more at the McHenry Dam upstream of the County to keep the flow below 1,000 cubic feet per second.

These measures should reduce the ice jam threat in the Dundee area. However, since the booms were installed, the winters have not produced the conditions requisite for the creation of ice jams, so they have not been fully tested.