HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — Many lake front communities are going to be dealing with flooding this weekend. Hank Kleinfelder lives in Hamburg's Hoover Beach and says he knows the impact of these storms all too well.
UPDATE: Hoover Beach is under a mandatory evacuation starting 8 p.m. Thursday.
"When it get's bad like this it just gets too stressful" said Kleinfelder. "So, we leave and we'll come back afterwards.
Kleinfelder has lived in Hoover Beach for four years and said when you have Lake Erie for a backyard battling storms in inevitable.
"Windows can et broken, doors can get broken," said Kleinfelder.
Kleinfelder said he has heavy duty boarding on the back home throughout the entire winter season but added more just for this weekend.
"I add the height and I do the second floor because believe it or not, the waves will hit this and splash and the high winds will blow everything onto the house," said Kleinfelder.
However, officials say there is a lot more than just wind and waves to worry about.
"When we have the seiche and we put the seiche as combined with the winds that are anticipated that's going to spell again disaster for that," said Sean Crotty, Hamburg Emergency Service Manager. "We have over head power utilities that serve this community. So, if the power utility gets cut out then we're going to lose heat and electricity to their homes too."
Crotty said the seiche in this case is when the Cleveland side of Lake Erie drops while the lake level here in Western New York rises.
"So combine that increase level with the wave action that we're anticipated to see from the high winds and we're going to see waves that are crashing over these homes," said Crotty.
Crotty also said when spray from the waves hit homes many become encapsulated with ice which can add weight to the structure.
Jackie Bray, Commissioner of New York State Homeland Security & Emergency Services said to also expect winds up to 60mph and white out conditions.
"So we do expect flooding off of Lake Erie," said Bray. "Right now we expect about three feet above the lake level."
"I know we all want to see our family for the holiday," said Bray. "My best advice is, if you can get were you need to be tomorrow and plan to be there through Sunday, that will keep you safe."
Crotty urged residents to stay home and out of the way of rescue crews while they work to keep your neighborhoods safe.