N.W.T's public safety director answers spring breakup and flood questions

With temperatures warming up around the N.W.T., many residents are now getting ready for possible spring-time flooding.

This year, the preparations will be different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It will affect how residents will be able to evacuate, where they can stay for temporary accommodations, and how they will get there. 

CBC News spoke with Ivan Russell, director of public safety for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, to find out how its emergency response is adapting to the pandemic's new reality. 

What is the current breakup activity in the territory? 

The territory has nine recognized flood-prone communities mostly down the Mackenzie River and up the Liard river systems. These communities have established flood watch committees, which keep an eye on water levels.

Most of the work is being done right now in Hay River and Fort Liard — two areas that have a long history of partial flooding, said Russell.

The river has broken near Fort Liard and water levels are quite high, which means there's still a flood risk for the community at this time, according to Russell. The government is currently monitoring the situation.

Once Fort Liard is clear, the risk moves downstream to Fort Simpson, where some roads and certain areas of the town have been flooded in the past.

Hay River has not seen much flooding in the last few years, Russell said, but the town's Vale Island area is always at risk. 

"It doesn't take much of a change to create a flood situation in Hay River," Russell said. 

How has COVID-19 changed the response to a possible evacuation? 

The towns cannot set up group shelters like schools or gymnasiums in the case of partial evacuations, which means the department needs to find another way. 

"We are pretty reliant on hotels," Russell said. "Hay River and Fort Simpson have limitations on their hotel space, so we fully recognize that if Hay River [and Fort Liard] has to do a partial community evacuation, we will have to send some residents to Yellowknife."

We feel quite confident that we can accommodate, on short notice.- Ivan Russell, N.W.T. public safety director

Glenn Smith, the senior administrative officer for Hay River, told the CBC in a previous story that the town has a shortage of hotel rooms available for possible flood evacuees because it was identified as one of four regional centres where returning N.W.T residents need to self-isolate for 14 days.

Russell said it would be "fairly easy" to accommodate over 200 people in Yellowknife, if need be. 

A small number of hotel rooms in Fort Simpson will also be available to Fort Liard residents if they need to evacuate, Russell said.  

"We feel quite confident that we can accommodate, on short notice," Russell said. 

He said the department is also considering how to respect physical distancing on buses or airplanes if residents need to be evacuated that way. Airplanes would only be used to transit people if no road options were available. 

The department also has some staff that are on-call 24/7 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Russell said, but they will also be available to respond quickly to flood threats. 

When will communities call an evacuation? 

Residents in flood-risk communities have a list of things to do in case they are evacuated on short notice, which includes filling cars up with gas, gathering important medications, personal items and taking care of their pets. 

The communities put out flood watch warnings that include up-to-date water levels, Russell said. 

If it comes close to evacuation time, Russel said an alert or notice will be sent out telling people to leave their homes and to register with the government. That's done so the department can keep track of who and how someone is leaving the community and where they are going. 

"If an evacuation is required, then we will have that underway pretty quickly," Russell said. 

The communities are also identifying people who are "vulnerable" and could need support to evacuate. 

Regional superintendents with Municipal and Community Affairs are working with communities on a daily basis to gauge if and when their residents need to prepare for an evacuation. 

Russell is reminding residents in flood-risk areas to have a safety plan in place, including an emergency kit they can use if and when the evacuation order comes.