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Icy Pond Warning!

Published: February 17, 2021

All ice on ponds in Wise County is dangerous…there is no such thing as a pond safe for skating! We never experience cold enough temperatures for durations long enough to freeze water (and keep it frozen) to depths thick enough to allow for safe skating on stormwater management ponds.

Stormwater management ponds, by design, collect sediment and store it until it is removed in a dredging process. When a person falls through the ice, the sediment at the bottom of the pond is not solid. It is thick and mushy, and when a person steps on it, they can get sucked in and stuck. Although the ponds are not particularly deep, the suction can trap a person…leading to drowning or hypothermia. Hypothermia can happen in a matter of minutes.

Please talk to your children (of all ages) about how dangerous thin ice can be. Tell them that skating on or entering a stormwater management pond can be deadly.

Please take all safety precautions during this winter storms to stay safe and warm.

Shale Creek HOA