Rock Creek homes evacuated

Residents of Dawson City's Rock Creek subdivision and territorial officials are assessing the damage to properties and the road after weekend flooding saw 28 people, a cat and a dog leave the area.

Residents of Dawson City’s Rock Creek subdivision and territorial officials are assessing the damage to properties and the road after weekend flooding saw 28 people, a cat and a dog leave the area.

As well, a camper had to be rescued from the flood.

An ice jam on the Klondike River caused the flooding. Conditions saw water rise up to 61 centimetres (two feet) over the Rock Creek Road, Michael Templeton, the Emergency Measures Organization manager, said this morning at a media briefing in Whitehorse.

“The ice is pretty thick,” he said.

In some cases, chunks of ice as thick as propane tanks have been left leaning up against some houses in the area.

The water began rising at about 5 p.m. Friday. Five hours later, it was 46 centimetres over the road, with the Klondike Valley Fire Department and Wildland Fire Management continually monitoring the situation and keeping residents updated.

By Saturday, water was at the two-foot mark on some areas of the road, with heavy equipment being the only vehicles able to get in and out.Jeff Stevenson, of the fire department, headed up an incident command with other members of the fire department, staff from various departments of the Yukon government and the Canadian Rangers.

Statements were sent to area residents advising them of the availability of sandbags and to have water and other supplies on hand as well before most opted to leave.

“By noon on Saturday, some of the residents of the area were asking for assistance to be evacuated from their homes, and by the end of the day on Saturday, roughly 28 people evacuated voluntarily in the area,” Templeton said. The dog and cat also left the area with their families, and the camper was rescued, he added.

He was plucked from the area after having waited four hours. He had driven into a culvert that had been washed out, said Dan Baikie, the territory’s protective services’ zone protection manager.

He and Stevenson joined the media briefing from Dawson by conference call.

“He (the camper) was safe where he was at, but as the water rose he decided to leave,” Baikie said.

“And the culvert washed out and he didn’t see that and he drove it, the front of his vehicle, down into the culvert, which brought water up to about his windshield.

“But he could walk out the backside of it and he could get to land. So he just waited for rescue on land.”

It would be about four hours before a vehicle came by to get him.

A number of Dawson residents volunteered to move people from their properties.

While most residents found shelter at the homes of families and friends, the Department of Health and Social Services provided hotel rooms to three residents of the area.

Power to the Rock Creek subdivision was shut down by Yukon Energy on Saturday.

At 10:30 p.m. Saturday, the ice jam broke up, with the water receding but leaving damage to the roads and homes in its wake. Most of the water that had flooded the road was gone by Sunday.

“The road is still pretty much impassable to cars due to washout,” Templeton said, adding pickup trucks are able to make it down the road.

Officials with the territory’s Department of Highways and Public Works are assessing the Rock Creek Road for repairs, with work likely to be done within the next few days.

Meanwhile, 22 properties have been affected by the floods, though the value of the damage is as yet unknown.

Some residents have reported there is between 61 cm and 91cm (two and three feet) of water in their homes.

In some cases, broken chunks of ice with the same thickness of a propane tank floated up to the property.

It’s not expected that five smaller ice jams upstream from the Rock Creek subdivision will pose a problem, Templeton said.

“But the team there will still monitor the water flow and the ice, you know, just to see, just to make sure nothing’s going to happen,” he said.

The territory is recommending those affected by the flood have their septic and well systems tested before they begin using them again.

Meanwhile, as territorial government officials in Dawson continue to assess the damage around Rock Creek, others are getting set for meetings in Upper Liard and Old Crow this week, preparing for any flooding there.

EMO’s Michelle Christianson-Toews also noted this week marks Emergency Preparedness Week.

Displays are set up at the Canada Games Centre and information is going out to Yukoners on preparing homes and vehicles for emergencies.