Southern Lakes stop rising but forecasters fear rain

Water levels at the Yukon's flooded Marsh Lake did not rise for the second day in a row Friday but forecasters are saying that doesn't mean floodwaters have peaked.

Glenn Ford, a geotechnical engineer with the Yukon government's environment department, told CBC News that water level gauges on the lake have remained flat since Wednesday.

ButFord warned that a report from government hydrologist Richard Janowicz "is still forecasting it to go up, but this is in response to forecasted rainfall over the weekend in the Upper Lakes regions, so it really depends on the intensity of the rain." Earlier forecasts predicted the levels would peak around Aug. 1.

"He's forecast it to go up a maximum of 10 centimetres, minimum of five centimetres, but this is really dependent on the rain," Ford said Friday. "If it doesn't rain it may not go up."

Water levelsat Tagish, Marsh, Bennett and Atlin lakes remains nearly two-thirds of a metre above previous record levels. Yukon Energy Corp. pegged the level at Marsh Lake at 657.213 metres above sea level Friday, well above the record level of 656.994 metres set in 1981.

Crews in the Marsh Lake area, which has been worst hit by flooding, have completed a dike around portions of Army Beach Road, allowing them to start pumping out the water.

Emergency officials hope to build the road bed up above the water levels, in order to ensure residents have continued access to their homes.

McLintock Bay resident Doug Phillips said no one in the areahas ever seen anything like this before.

"This is absolutely record-breaking," he said. "It's 20 inches above anything anybody ever expected, and there's land out there now being flooded that has never been flooded."

Phillips said many homeowners in the area are telling him the only reason they've been able to save their houses is because volunteers helped with sandbagging and other efforts.

At least 1,000 Yukoners have helped fill more than 130,000 sandbags to date. Those efforts continue over the weekend.