Vale Island residents ordered to evacuate as Hay River continues to break up

All residents of Vale Island inHay Riverare ordered to evacuate immediately due to a high risk of flooding, according to an emergency alert sent Friday around 2 p.m. MT.

Evacuees are told to register with the Hay River community centre or call 1-833-699-0188.

"Any household that has evacuees who are in self-isolation, have COVID[-19], or are demonstrating COVID[-19] symptoms, must call the registration centre do not enter the registration centre," says an evacuation order issued by the town.

Residents in Hay River, N.W.T., have been on high alert as the river continues to break up this past week.

The fire department was called in Thursday night to relocate a few people from their cabins near West Channel as a precautionary move.

Part of a road was flooded and remained that way as of Friday morning.

The town warned on Wednesday that breakup was imminent and that those livingon Vale Island or West Channel should prepare for the possibility of an evacuation with relatively short notice.

Jane Groenewegen, a Hay River resident, said some people spent the night watching the breakup in the area.

"If there is one thing we know, you cannot predict completely," she said.

"You can do all the preparation, you can do all the forecasting, but you really at the end of the day cannot predict what this river will do because it's a phenomenon."

The territory has been warning people of possible floodingthroughout the N.W.T. as manywater bodies experienced record-high water levels during the summer and fall of 2020 due to significant rain, and continued to seehigh water levels through the winter and into spring.

Map of Hay River, N.W.T. flood-prone areas

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Residents of Hay River, N.W.T., have been on high alert this past week as the river continues to break up.

On Friday morning, Ron Courtoreille, another Hay River resident, said he wasn't all that concerned for the time being.

"I don't find it all that exciting at this point in time. So it's more of a normal breakup so far," Courtoreille said.

But he added, that might also depend on how much more ice is to come and how much more water is to come. "What you see here is just, I guess a little bit more than the initial push of ice and water," he said, describing the scene on Friday morning.

"We still have a lot of waters running through out on the lake but there's more ice and more water to come. So if it's nothing major,this will be it. Otherwise, if we get more ice and more water in any volumes, this could move again."

'Unprecedented' water levels

Glenn Smith, Hay River's senior administrative officer, saidthe flood risk remains high, heading into the weekend.

"One of the big anomalies this year is the lake water levels they are at an unprecedented high level," Smith said Friday around noon.

"I would compare this very similar to last year in terms of where we're at right now, however, that high water on the lake has been a new variable that we haven't had to deal with."

Smith said there was somesome flooding on a couple of commercial properties along the lakeshore earlier on.

"We'll be keeping a close eye on things throughout the weekend, and people should be prepared," he said.

"Hopefully we'll be out ofthis by Monday."

Where to stay

For people whodo not have COVID-19 and are not required to isolate, the following temporary accommodations are recommended:

• Stay with friends or family for a maximum of five additional persons for a maximum of 10 people in each house.
• Stay at the RV Park (Hay River Community Centre) for those who have RVs or Campers. Power is provided and there is no cost to the evacuee.
• Stay at the Hay River Community Centre, wherea cot and blanket will be provided, and basic food service offered at no cost.
• Take up commercial accommodations such as hotels or apartments at your own cost.