PARKER, Armstrong County — Melting ice is slowly making its trek down the Allegheny River, with some jamming and flooding being reported along the way.

Ice remained jammed Wednesday near the village of West Monterey in Clarion County, a couple miles south of Parker. Water was able to flow in the center of the river past the village, which has a population of about 90 people, but large sheets piled along the banks.

Most of the ice had cleared Parker after causing minor flooding along Route 268 earlier this week.

Tom Myers, a member of VFW Post 7073 in Parker, said the river can flood during particularly cold winters.

“The colder the winter, the more ice you get,” Myers said. “There’s a big turn in the river that jams up a lot near Parker.”

The stretch of Route 268 flooded periodically from Sunday through Tuesday afternoon before the ice gave way late Tuesday night.

Myers said Parker has had minor flooding in each of the past two years.

“We had a gradual thaw this year,” he said. “If it had melted in a couple days, I think it would’ve been worse.”

Dave Slaugenhoup, commander of the VFW post, said the post has had some flooding in its basement the past two winters.

“We lost some records due to the basement flooding,” he said, adding the water gets backed up in the drainage system in the basement.

But Slaugenhoup said the ice along the river does bring some tourists to the city.

He said some of the sightseers take dangerous risks by climbing out on the ice, but said it isn’t a big problem.

“Most people have a good sense about it,” he said.

Randy Brozenick, director of the Armstrong County Emergency Management Agency, said the two-mile stretch of the river between East Brady and Parker becomes problematic each spring as the ice melts because there are obstacles in the river that causes ice to collect. That includes Bradys Bend, two S-shaped bends and a few small islands.

“We go through this every year,” Brozenick said. “Eventually it all goes down the river.”

Mayor William McCall declared a state of emergency in Parker due to concerns about the city’s public water.

“There is the potential they could lose public water,” Brozenick said.

The city has electric intake pumps along the river to collect water. If the river rises too high, the pumps must be removed to prevent them from being damaged.

“They’ve been pulled out once,” Brozenick said. “But they were able to put one back in.”

He said the pumps serve about 1,500 people around Parker. He said the city has a 33,000-gallon storage tank that could last about two days without the pumps.

Scott Parks, head operator of the Parker area authority, said no one lost water due to the flooding.

“We never came close to running out,” he said.

Parks, who has been with the city for 28 years, said he has seen flooding occasionally along Route 268. He said the water this year was a little higher at its peak than last year.

“But last year we had more sightseers,” he said.