‘This is just scary’: flood evacuees in Canada’s Northwest Territories watch and wait

Hundreds of people displaced from homes in Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson

Shaylyn Hope, 12, is making the most of things as she waits in Fort Providence, N.W.T., with her family — and trying not to be too worried about what’s happening back home in Jean Marie River.

“It’s not like me to be scared about not being home, but this is just scary and I’m not used to it,” she said.

“I’ve never been in a flood before.”

Hope and her relatives were forced to flee their homes over the weekend, as the Mackenzie River began to swell and flood the town during seasonal ice breakup. The flooding also damaged the local power plant and uprooted fuel tanks that have contaminated flood waters.

Hope and her little sister, nine-year-old Kierstyn, said they helped raise the alarm in Jean Marie River when they first noticed water flowing onto the road.

“We told everyone and then they started freaking out,” said Kierstyn.

Hundreds displaced

Hundreds of people have been displaced from their homes in Jean Marie River and Fort Simpson, further down the Mackenzie. The Hope sisters are now staying in a hotel upriver in Fort Providence with their mom, uncle, grandparents and dog, Hunter. All they can do is wait and watch water levels until officials say it’s safe to go back.

“It’s really emotionally wrecking,” said Shaylyn, who’s happy that everyone is safe, but still, she misses home.

“I just love everything there, because it’s really beautiful.”

Chief Stanley Sanguez of the Jean Marie River First Nation said on Tuesday morning that when he left his community on Monday evening, the river level seemed to have stabilized.

“I don’t think the water is going to go up any higher than what it is,” he said.

Concern things could get worse

Sanguez said he’s worried about Fort Simpson. That community sits downstream at the confluence of the Mackenzie and the Liard Rivers, and officials there are anxiously watching the ice on the Mackenzie.

The Liard has flooded the town and once the Mackenzie ice breaks, there’s concern that things may get much worse.

Fort Simpson Mayor Sean Whelly said Tuesday morning that things had been relatively quiet overnight, and the water may have even dropped slightly. But it was still high.

“Nothing happened last night. So we’re just patiently sitting here waiting to see what will happen today,” he said.

Whelly said he’s hoping the ice will start to move in front of Fort Simpson to “give room” for the rising water in the Mackenzie. If the ice stays put, he said that extra water may continue to flow into the town.

In the meantime, Whelly said residents and volunteers are still putting in long hours trying to manage the emergency, with some workers camped out at the water plant to monitor the situation there. The water plant and power plant that supply the town have both been shut down according to the village’s Facebook page.

“People are holding up. All the emergency providers, the health-care people, the village staff, the volunteers …  I’m a little worried that they’re going to start to burn out,” he said.

“People are stepping up and they’re doing what needs to be done.”

-With files from Loren McGinnis

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Climate change creating vast new glacial lakes, with risk of ‘gargantuan’ floods, researcher says, The Canadian Press

Finland: Northern Finland braces for worst spring floods in decades, Yle News

Norway: Climate change hits back at Svalbard, coal mine flooded by melting glacier in Norway, The Independent Barents Observer

Sweden: Melting snow brings floods to central Sweden, Radio Sweden