The water in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., is receding, but the community continues to face devastation as homes near Eight Miles were destroyed and the recent deaths of three people from the hamlet has families and friends grieving.
“It’s a really sad time in our community,” said Kyla Ross, who sits on council for the Tetlit Gwich’in Band and the hamlet. “We lost three young men in a couple of days, so we have three different grieving families.”
The recent losses, not related to the flooding, comes at a time when the hamlet of about 650 is in a state of emergency. Fort McPherson declared the crisis on Tuesday, after the Peel River flooded the two roads out of the community, resulting in a loss of access to the airport and water and sewer services.
There was no water along the road to the airport as of Friday morning, but Ross said the damage needed to be assessed, and then repaired.
“It’s washed out in some places. It definitely needs to be rebuilt,” Ross said, noting the plan was for the territorial infrastructure department to visit the hamlet and assess today.
Evacuations for infants, elders and those needing medical care was originally planned for Thursday, using a helicopter and an empty ball field, but with freezing rain in Inuvik, there were no evacuations yesterday.
Officials did not know if there would be any evacuations Friday either.
“We’re basically just taking it moment by moment,” Ross said.
Main concern is sewer
Earlier this week, water from the Peel River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River, rose to levels no one living could remember seeing. Fortunately, most of the houses in Fort McPherson are built on a hill, lessening the risk to residents.
Some houses in the north end of the community suffered from high water, including the transmitter booth and satellite that transmits CBC and the local community radio. But one of the main concerns is the lack of access to sewer services.
Joyce Blake shared this video of her boating by Fort McPherson, N.W.T., Wednesday evening. The rising Peel River flooded cut off road access to the community earlier this week. Though the river is no longer rising, the extent of the damage is unclear.
“People were asked to switch to honey buckets on Wednesday,” said Ross, referring to the common five-gallon drum outfitted with a plastic bag and a toilet seat on top. “Our septic tanks can only hold so much, so we are trying to find ways to limit what goes in our septic tanks as much as possible, because once that’s full — that’s it.”
People in the hamlet rely on trucked water delivered to tanks in homes. Water was delivered to residents Wednesday morning, Ross said, and as long as people are conserving their water usage, the concern right now is minimal.
“People were told to fill up their jugs and they did so and we have water in stores, so we’re not panicking about drinking water.”
With roads washed out, it means no food supplies would be coming into the community, a Facebook post shared by the hamlet, signed by SAO Susan Blake, stated. She also wrote that garbage was still being picked up and temporarily stored in the arena, “the coldest place available.”
Despite that situation, people seem to be getting by.
“Nobody is panicking. Everyone is just co-operating, working together and checking in on each other,” Ross said.
Also grieving losses of homes at Eight Miles
South of the hamlet, there is another kind of loss as houses at Eight Miles have been significantly damaged.
“[We] watched them float down the river cause there’s nothing we can do. Those are people’s homes floating down the river,” Ross said.
A water monitoring update from the territorial government said water levels in the Peel dropped just over one metre in two days after an ice jam shifted downstream. The same update said cabin owners along the Peel River should be aware of the continued potential for high water.
“We’re doing the best we can,” Ross said. “We’re checking in on each other, that’s all we can do.”
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