ZANESVILLE, OH (WCMH) — Two jams between Zanesville and Dresden are still threatening homes downstream, but an official said this warm weather is helping melt that ice.

Ellis Dam is the halfway point of a five-mile-long ice jam on the Muskingum River. The ice jam is so thick you cannot see the low-head dam. A fiberglass boat is sitting on top of the ice jam in the middle of the river near the dam. The Muskingum County EMA Director said the ice is slowly melting, but what happens next is dependent on the weather conditions.

“It is going to help that it will melt the top of the ice, so that will reduce the thickness, but if we get a rapid thaw and [a] large amount of rain tonight it could bring it up or cause a jam someplace else,” said Jeff Jadwin.

Two weeks ago, water levels came up four feet in a thirty minute period. Since then the ice jam has been destroying everything in its path.

“The water did come way up but it didn’t reach any of the homes. It did destroy a lot of docks,” Jadwin said.

He spoke with the Coshocton County EMA and was told their ice jam broke apart and water was flowing freely.

Besides monitoring the river conditions Jadwin said he has been quelling rumors.

“We had an incident yesterday where somebody sent out a notice saying it was moving, got a lot of people panicking that their homes might get damaged and it was a false report,” he said. Last week someone claimed that Coshocton and Morgan Counties used dynamite on the jams. He dispelled that rumor too.

You can get up-to-date reports on the Muskingum County EMA Facebook page.

As tempting as it might be to go out to items on the ice like the stranded boats, Jadwin said the ice is still very dangerous.

He said they are checking the jams twice a day and some neighbors are also helping monitor conditions.