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Watching the River Levels in Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County remains under a flood warning, but the river level here on the Susquehanna is hovering around 20 feet as of 6 a.m. on Thursd...

WILKES-BARRE -- Luzerne County remains under a flood warning, but the river level here on the Susquehanna is hovering around 20 feet as of 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Also, the floodgates remain open on the Market Street Bridge and they’re expected to stay that way as long as the ice keeps flowing.

Just after midnight, Newswatch 16 was at Nesbitt Park when a smaller ice jam broke up on its own and things started moving again.

Around 6 a.m. on Thursday, emergency management officials don't expect any flooding in communities like Kingston, Wilkes-Barre, and Forty Fort. However, things are constantly changing which is why officials are keeping a close watch on everything.

People who live and work around this area who we caught up with Thursday morning are also keeping an eye on things.

Sara Neishel of Plains Township said, "I’m thinking it’s more scary when it starts to melt 'cause it looks like it has a pretty nice levee by itself with the ice, might be scary.”

"I was working delivery newspapers and it got a lot higher," explained Cassandra Banicky of Plains Township. "So I came out. It looks pretty scary. It’s weird how mother nature works."

Neishel added, "It looks like we should be up in Alaska or something like we’re going to see a polar bear or something walking around soon."

Because things are constantly changing, low lying areas downstream, including farmland in Plainsville along with low lying areas in Shickshinny near Route 11, have the potential to flood. However, there are no reports of flooding yet

Emergency officials do plan to have a news conference at 10 a.m. on Thursday to update everyone on the situation with the Susquehanna River here in Luzerne County.

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