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.

"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.

Líídlįį Kúę, in Dene Zhatie, means the place where two rivers meet. It has been a place for Dene to gather for millennia. It is also an area prone to flooding, sparking concern about how the community will be impacted by spring break-up, during a year of high water levels.

During the summer and fall months of 2020, the Great Slave Lake reached the highest water levels in its recorded history. Communities that are prone to flooding are preparing for an abnormal spring ahead.

Spring melt combined with heavy rain over the weekend has driven up water levels near Nahanni Butte, which sits on the banks of the Nahanni River. The community is accessible only by boat or plane in the summer.