Water levels are receding on the Exploits and Badger rivers and Red Indian Brook, giving new hope to people in the central Newfoundland town of Badger that their town will avoid a flood.

Loud booming noises were heard along the ice-blocked waterways by mid-day, which meant that the ice was cracking and giving water extra room to flow through.

The town has been on a flood watch since Thursday, after ice accumulated on a river and two brooks that flow through the community.

Water levels, though, had dropped overnight, bringing some relief to a town that was devastated a decade ago by icy flooding.

Officials have been keeping a close eye on ice that has been forming on the Exploits and Badger rivers, along with Red Indian brook.

Several homes in Badger which were evacuated on Thursday night as a precaution have remained evacuated.

Mayor Mike Patey said the combination of cold weather and high winds caused ice to block the flow of water.

Earlier on Friday, Patey said that water levels had begun to drop off, leaving a layer of ice on two roads in the community.

The situation has happened just a week before the 10th anniversary of a massive flood that devastated the town. Many residents of the town were forced from their homes as waters overran the river, and then froze into enormous formations of ice.