Water receding in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., but access to water, airport still flooded
CBC
Lorna Storr was only supposed to be in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., for a couple of days, before high waters surrounding the community left her stranded in the hamlet.
Storr had a flight booked out Monday but when the Peel River flooded the Dempster Highway and cut off access to the airport, she realized she might be staying longer than intended.
"We're just sitting here waiting," Storr said.
"I heard the water levels were dropping so I hope they'd be able to get their road repaired so we'd be able to get out."
The community of about 650 declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after flooding from the Peel washed over both roads out of the community, blocking access to the airport as well as the hamlet's source of clean drinking water.
Impassable roads means no food supplies are coming in, heating fuel is inaccessible and there is no access to the garbage dump. The hamlet staff is continuing to pick up garbage and temporarily storing it at the curling rink.
While some houses on the north end flooded, most of the community is built up on a hill with lesser risk of flooding from the river. The latest water monitoring bulletin from the territory said the water level on the river at Fort McPherson has been slowly receding over the past 24 hours after the large ice jam shifted downstream of the community.
The extent of the damage, including erosion to the access roads on the Dempster Highway, has yet to be determined.
Despite Storr's extended stay, she said she has been keeping busy with visiting, baking, checking water levels and accidentally being featured on Northbeat Wednesday night. She had wandered into Chief Elizabeth Wright's interview with the CBC's Meghan Roberts.
"I didn't know it was live," Storr said with a laugh.
"I just came from behind the house and I went over to see what was going on and here they were doing an interview."
Storr was originally in the hamlet to cover some work shifts for her daughter, Joyce Blake, who was out of town when the high water started.
Blake was in Inuvik Tuesday when her flights back to the hamlet were cancelled.
"We ended up getting a charter from Inuvik to McPherson, myself and two of my kids and my nieces," Blake said.
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