Ice Castles

Melt From NH Ice Castles Caused ‘Terrifying' Flooding, Says Neighbor, Who's Suing

A neighbor in North Woodstock is suing the Ice Castles attraction for what they call “major flooding” in their home last spring, when all the ice melted

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For thousands of visitors every year, the Ice Castles in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, are like a dream. But for Kelly Trinkle and her husband, who live a quarter mile away, it’s been a nightmare.

“It was terrifying,” Kelly Trinkle told NBC10 Boston on Friday.

Last spring, when the two acres of ice structures nearby melted, the runoff created a waterfall into her basement, Trinkle said, flooding the 2,000 square feet with up to a foot of water.

“It was like tiny Niagara Falls coming through the windows,” Trinkle said. 

She showed us video of flooding over the course of several days. The couple claims their basement took on upwards of 30,000 gallons of water.

“We were in shock, we didn’t know what to do,” Trinkle said.

After more than a week, the flooding stopped. With the help of sump pumps and a nearly $30,000 drainage system, the basement eventually dried out.

“I lived in the basement for ten days, it was a bummer,” she said. “We had to cancel our vacation.”

Trinkle’s grandfather built the home more than 50 years ago.

She says her family has never had water come through the windows until Ice Castles moved into North Woodstock last year. 

“My mom will testify, my older brother, my younger sister, just no water in the basement,” Trinkle said.

The couple first went directly to Ice Castles to have them fix the problem.

“We were sending pictures and video of the breach of their holding ponds and they didn’t care,” Trinkle said.

A lawyer for Ice Castles denied that the structures caused the flooding, saying the castles were “largely still in ice form” and providing photos. The company placed the blame on “significant rainfall.”

Volunteers in northern Wisconsin have spent the better part of a week building a giant ice castle.
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