(Spirit Lake)– Local officials say they can’t emphasize enough how dangerous ice conditions are on the Iowa Great Lakes. And with even warmer temperatures in the forecast today (Thursday) and Friday, those conditions are only expected to get even worse.
If anyone can attest as to just how dangerous the ice is, it’s Bob Shaw. Shaw and others have been scrambling to find new locations for the various Winter Games events, including broomball. He says in three days they had three different vehicles go through the ice in the process of trying to set things up for Winter Games. Even though it’s 10 to 16 inches thick in places, Shaw says the ice is sponge-like–full of holes and very soft. He says whenever you start concentrating weight on it, the ice actually starts breaking up, and the next thing you know, he says, you’re going down.
Shaw highly discourages anyone from taking any vehicles onto the ice, and he urges snowmobile operators to use extreme caution if they feel they must venture onto the lakes.
Pretty much all of the Winter Games activities that had originally been scheduled on the ice have been moved to shore.
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