Hay River

Excessive snowpack and high water levels have communities across the N.W.T. at risk of flooding once again this spring. This includes Hay River, Kátł'odeeche First Nation, Nahanni Butte, Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Aklavik, Fort Good Hope, Tulita and Jean Marie River First Nation.

During the summer and fall months of 2020, the Great Slave Lake reached the highest water levels in its recorded history. Communities that are prone to flooding are preparing for an abnormal spring ahead.

After a summer that saw high water levels and even higher concentrations of metal in two N.W.T. rivers, water testing is showing a return to normal, and a limited impact on local wildlife.

A Hay River tourism operation on the shoreline of Great Slave Lake has been hit hard by high water and high wind.

As breakup season creeps closer, the town of Hay River, N.W.T, is preparing for a possible flood during the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

These are predaceous diving beetle larvae, in the family Dytiscidae.

The advisory is just a precaution at this point and was issued because the water appears muddier than usual, the release said. No one has reported getting sick from the water.

As the ice breaks up on waterways across the North, the spring river breakup has come to a close in Hay River but not before it created a feast of fish for local birds.

Water levels in the Hay River Basin are at or near the highest ever recorded at this time of year — as much as 40 per cent higher than normal levels in Alberta and B.C. This is combined with an already saturated ground which increases the risk of smaller bodies of water overflowing.

Impressive amounts of water normally rush over Alexandra Falls and Louise Falls in the N.W.T. But amid hot and dry conditions, These majestic waterfalls look nothing like they do at their full force.

Janice Moore, who lives along the West Channel, is worried about fuel contamination after intense flooding in Hay River, N.W.T., left multiple fuel containers strewn about her property. "You can smell the diesel smell and fuel smell," she said.

Lower Village and Wolf Drive Area are being told to head for higher ground as flood waters approach. Hay River's SAO says water is the highest he's ever seen.

The couple had been watching water levels rise and fall all day, waiting for them to go down like usual. They'd finally started to relax, when the knock came. They were out of time.

Town officials said water levels rose to new highs on Thursday and a second surge of water in the afternoon flooded through the north end of Miron Drive, the downtown area, and Cranberry Crescent, causing property damage throughout the town. By Friday morning, the last of the ice was off the river.

Shane Thompson, the N.W.T.'s minister of Environment and Climate Change as well as Municipal and Community Affairs, gave an update on the out-of-control wildfire burning near Hay River and the Kátł'odeeche First Nation since Sunday.

A Fort Smith, N.W.T., man is recounting his terrifying effort to flee a wildfire with his wife a couple of weeks ago — and crediting a Hay River man for steering them out of danger.  

With five N.W.T. communities evacuated as wildfires roll through the southern part of the territory, there has been a co-ordinated effort to fly out anyone still trapped in Fort Smith, Hay River and Kátł'odeeche First Nation.Here's our roundup on who's flying where, and when.

This is Hay River's warmest May 3 in 125 years. The previous record high was set in 1898.Temperatures in the community reached 30 C, three degrees warmer than the previous record high for the day. Overall, the southwestern N.W.T. is experiencing an abnormally warm spring. "We're talking, eight to up to 20 degrees above normal," said Jesse Wagar, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.