Spring flooding forces evacuations in the Northwest Territories | APTN News

Sirens cut through the silence in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories on May 9 as alarms signal to residents in the 1,200 person community where water levels along the Dehcho – Macknzie River had reached 15 metres.

“It went on for a good minute and it was pretty scary sounding. I heard it in movies but never really heard it in real life,” said Jonathan Antoine, a member of Łı́ı́dlı̨́ı̨́ Kų́ę́ First Nation, who calls Fort Simpson home.

This weekend, town officials ordered an evacuation for residents living on the island, a lower area of land at immediate risk of flooding.

“I have not seen levels this high before. I saw a plane underwater that is unheard of. The hope is that the water goes down right away. I want the causeway to hold up, because that is the only method of transportation to go into the community,” he said.

Fort Simpson is located at the confluence of the Mackenzie River and the Liard River. There are high water levels and residents are still waiting for more ice to break and move along on the Mackenzie.

Emergency operations staff went door to door and assisted in transportation for evacuees because of the spring thaw flooding to the town’s recreation centre where residents registered and confirmed they had left their home.

It’s the first evacuation for Fort simpson since the flood of 1963.

Read more: https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/spring-thaw-flooding-forces-evacuations-in-the-northwest-territories/
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