Photo courtesy of the Department of Environmental Conservation A seiche wave impacts a building in Buffalo in April 2018.

ANGOLA — On Oct. 17, the New York Sea Grant, Town of Evans, and the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance will host an informational meeting to help shoreline property owners, municipal leaders, and natural resource managers be better prepared to deal with the potential for seiche-caused coastal flooding and property damage.

The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lake Erie Beach Volunteer Fire Hall, 9483 Lake Shore Road. There is no cost to attend the program; however, registration for seating is encouraged at https://bit.ly/shorelinepreparednessworkshop1024 or call 315-312-3042 for more information. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Great Lakes Program has provided funding support for this program.

Five of the top 10 recorded Lake Erie seiches near Buffalo have occurred since 2019 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data). Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, with its west-east positioning is conducive to the development of seiches – standing waves that impact the Western New York shoreline with significant force. Seiche events have become more common on Lake Erie with decreased winter ice conditions and more severe wind events during the winter season.

New York Sea Grant Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist Roy Widrig, co-author of a “Seiche Events on Lake Erie” Fact Sheet, will host the meeting. National Weather Service: Buffalo Meteorologist (retired) Judith Levan and Widrig will be among the speakers presenting information on seiche forecasting, shoreline changes from seiche events, and how to manage shoreline erosion and flooding.

Additionally, Widrig offers virtual and in-person assistance (upon request) with evaluating a waterfront area for erosion problems. Property owners and managers of shoreline areas along New York’s Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River shoreline may request this assistance via NYSG’s Virtual Site Visit Portal at www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastalvirtualsitevisit.

New York Sea Grant is a cooperative extension program of Cornell University and the State University of New York and part of a nationwide network of 34 university-based programs working with coastal communities through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Other information includes:

— During seiche events on Lake Erie, wind “piles up” water on the lake’s eastern shore from Pennsylvania to Buffalo, while water levels near Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio, are pulled down.

— The Nov. 1, 2019 seiche event on Lake Erie caused 12-foot waves, widespread flooding and coastal erosion along the northwest Pennsylvania and southwestern New York shorelines.

— In October 1844, a 22-foot seiche breached the 14-foot seawall at Buffalo; 78 people drowned in that event.

— In March 1848, seiche-induced ice damming in the Niagara River caused Niagara Falls to stop flowing for almost 30 hours.