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(CNN) - A ship trapped in the rocks over Niagara Falls for more than a century was disheveled by strong winds and heavy rains.
Thursday's severe weather drove the ship from its run-off at a rocky site and brought it closer to the Canadian side falls, according to the Niagara Parks Commission.
It is the first time that an appreciable distance has been moving for more than a century, according to CBC, a CNN affiliate.
The severe weather conditions experienced yesterday have caused the iron scow, which has remained lodged in the powerful upper rapids above the Falls for over a century, to shift significantly from its position.
History of the Iron Scow Rescue: https://t.co/9Pehx8dabS pic.twitter.com/AG4nfLrzXx
- Niagara Parks (@NiagaraParks) November 1, 2019
In a video produced by the Niagara Parks Commission on Friday, an official, Jim Hill, said the barge, which currently does not move, appears to have "turned and turned."
The story of how the barge stopped just above the falls is part of the local tradition. It involves the rescue of two men from nearby Buffalo, according to Hill, who is the chief estate manager of the Parks Commission.
In 1918, a boat known as scow dump or barge was unhooked from its tugboat, with two men on board, during a dredging operation, according to the Commission, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports. The scow was stranded on the Niagara River, about 590 meters from Horseshoe Falls, one of the three waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls.
Local law enforcement agencies worked to rescue the two men, James Harris and Gustav Lofberg. A boat rescue was not considered safe or even feasible to try.
Instead, buoys were thrown, but the lines became entangled, according to the record that the Parks Commission published for the centenary.
With the help of a brave World War I veterinarian named William "Red" Hill, they unraveled the lines and the men were finally rescued the next day.
While the iron boat deteriorated severely during the century that was exposed to the elements, the barge had remained firmly subject to a rock outcrop since August 1918. That is, until Thursday, on Halloween, when the gusts of Wind and the scourges of rain hit the falls, and the remains of the barge.
The personnel of the Niagara Parks continues to monitor the activity of the boat, in case it moves again. Hill says the remains could be trapped in a new rocky place “for days or years. Nobody knows".
Niagara Falls