BUFFALO, N.Y. — With much warmer temperatures expected over the next couple days, the city of Buffalo and many of its homeowners are on high alert, preparing for what could be lots of melting snow and ice.

In anticipation of the upcoming thaw, Buffalo Police Department's Underwater Dive Team and city engineers started cutting 7 to 12 inch chunks of ice out of the creek Tuesday.

Crews created triangular cuts so the ice can crack easier, which they say allows the water to flow better and helps prevent ice jam flooding. While city leaders say they're not anticipating any problems with the impending warm up, longtime homeowners who have been through years of flooding incidents say they're still glad to see the crews out.

"[I’m] 100 percent relieved. When I hear they're going to break it up, that helps a lot," said William Erickson, Buffalo resident.

"This is an area that is prone to have that ice buildup in those spots. So encourage it, move it along, push it downstream into the Buffalo [River] and get it out of here, where it doesn't cause any issues," said Steve Stepniak, Buffalo Public Works commissioner.

Crews will also be out on Wednesday working upstream from the Michigan Bridge.