Residents in the northern Alberta community of Chateh, west of High Level, could be out of their homes for several months after flooding forced them to evacuate Sunday and Monday. 'This is the worst flooding we ever had,' Dene Tha' First Nations chief says.
The couple had been watching water levels rise and fall all day, waiting for them to go down like usual. They'd finally started to relax, when the knock came. They were out of time.
"There's basically people all over the place," Fort Simpson, N.W.T., Mayor Sean Whelly said on Monday morning. A general evacuation order was issued for the community of about 1,200 at about 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
CBC News hasn't been able to reach people in Jean Marie River on Saturday, but Paul Simon was able to find cell phone service on a drive and posted photos of the flood waters on social media.
Floods, caused by spring river break-up on the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, have forced residents of the N.W.T. communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River to evacuate. CBC's Eden Maury surveyed both communities from the air on May 10.
The remote community of roughly 600 people has been on flood watch for about a week and is the latest of several communities in the Northwest Territories to be affected by historic flooding on the Mackenzie River, caused by the spring breakup.
After a summer that saw high water levels and even higher concentrations of metal in two N.W.T. rivers, water testing is showing a return to normal, and a limited impact on local wildlife.
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