Yukon premier to tour flooded Southern Lakes area

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie says he will tour the flooded Southern Lakes region with emergency measures officials on Thursday.

Fentie, who had not spoken publicly since rising water started threatening homes this month in the Marsh Lake, Tagish and Carcross areas, said he had been fulfilling previous obligations. On Wednesday, he was attending the Pacific Northwest Economic Region's annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

"I would have done it earlier, save and except [I was] scheduled to leave the Yukon yesterday," Fentie told CBC News from Anchorage on Wednesday. "There's a major trip planned starting [Thursday] morning."

Since flooding began, government ministers Glenn Hart, Patrick Rouble and Elaine Taylor have been helping volunteers in trying to save properties from the waters, which have been rising steadily in the past several weeks. Late last week, levels on Marsh Lake broke the all-time record from 1981 of 656.994 metres above sea level.

Marsh Lake rose again by two centimetres overnight Tuesday, "which is right on what the forecast said it should be," government hydrologist Glenn Ford said Wednesday.

Ford said he expects the water to rise another two centimetres between Wednesday and Thursday, then one centimetre a day after that until Aug. 1.

"The real tough part is going to be until the middle of August. We don't expect it to start receding until the middle of August," he said.

Leaders at the economic region meetings discussed issues such as climate change, which Fentie said could be one of the causes behind the Southern Lakes floods.

"There are a lot of synergies here and interactions that are important," he said. "So let's not lose sight of that."

In terms of seeking disaster assistance from the federal government, Fentie said he will check out the situation in the area before making a case to Ottawa.

"And if it appears that we should qualify for declaration of a disaster area, then that's something we will look to at that juncture," he said.

In the meantime, the premier urged Yukoners to support the efforts of affected homeowners and volunteers rushing to protect properties in the Southern Lakes. Those efforts may be affected by winds: Wednesday's weather forecast calls for winds out of the south at about 20 kilometres per hour.