Several homes in Upper Liard and Lower Post, B.C. were evacuated over the weekend as floods waters continue to wreak havoc across the southern Yukon.

"Some of the houses are probably under six to eight feet of water,” Mike Sparks, the emergency response co-ordinator for Yukon Wildland Fire Management, said during a press conference this morning in Whitehorse.

Sparks and several others from the Emergency Measures Organization and several government departments held the briefing to explain the state of affairs across much of the south. (See separate highway story, p. 3).

Twelve people were removed early Saturday morning from Upper Liard. Flood waters have affected 11 homes on the east side of the Upper Liard River and one on the west side, Sparks explained.

Another 24 residents voluntarily evacuated their homes in Lower Post early Sunday morning after the flood water dike was breached.

Most residents of Upper Liard and Lower Post have found accommodations, but the Yukon's EMO has set up a service centre in Watson Lake to provide food and lodging for those who need it.

About 12 or 13 of the those who received assistance Sunday were either from the Upper Liard or Lower Post areas, Chris Balzer, director of emergency social services, explained this morning.

He said approximately nine were highway travellers who are stuck in Watson with the closure of the Alaska Highway at Rancheria.

Anyone requiring assistance in Watson Lake can call 1-867-536-2121, Balzer confirmed this morning.

Most of the evacuees, he said, have found accommodations with family and friends.

Upper Liard was evacuated at 5 a.m. Saturday when the raging Liard River was threatening the protective dike built in 2008 and 2009, and reinforced this year with much larger super bags of dirt.

By 7 a.m., the river had cut away the material underneath the dike, causing three of the super bags to fall in the river. That resulted in a breach that allowed the low-lying area around the homes to fill up relatively quickly.

Sparks said a damage assessment won't be available until the water recedes, which is expected to occur over the next three or four days.

Hydrologist Ric Janowicz, Environment Yukon's flood expert, said the Liard River hit an all-time high flood record when it peaked at 2 a.m. Sunday, a full 1.9 metres (just of over six feet) of what is considered the initial flood level.

It surpassed the previous high recorded in 1972 by a metre, he explained.

Janowicz said large areas in the south have been hit with what he called an unprecedented perfect storm brought about by high amounts of spring rains combined with an above-average snowpack in the mountains which is ripe for the melt.

"It was just a phenomenal amount of water south of Whitehorse,” Janowicz said of his aerial flight to have a bird's-eye view.

"The Teslin (River) was affected, the Nisutlin, the Rancheria. The water was spilling out of the flood plane and into the bush. I have never seen anything like that.”

Janowicz said the Liard River has dropped by 40 centimetres since it peaked early Sunday morning.

"We can expect it will be another couple of days to get down below flood stage.”

He said while there is rain in the forecast, it's not expected to be so much that it would prevent the Liard from receding.

Sparks said it will be some time before officials are able to carry out an assessment of the flooded homes.

And while the Yukon doesn't have a program in place at this time to assist the flood victims, officials are exploring options, he said.

The Yukon government did provide financial relief for the victims of the 2007 flood in Upper Liard and Marsh Lake.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon's chief medical health officer, said two things impressed during his trip to Watson Lake over the weekend.

The co-ordinated emergency response by the different departments was commendable, he said.

Hanley called the extent of the damage caused by the high water unbelievable.

"The amount of force is very impressive, and the destruction of the highway was very impressive.”

Hanley said the role of his office will be to make sure residents returning to their homes when the water subsides have access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation.

Peter Stone, deputy chief of Lower Post's Daylu Dena Council, said late this morning from Vancouver that 14 homes in Lower Post were evacuated.

There's been damage to some roads and other infrastructure, and the community's water treatment

plant has been threatened, he said.

Stone was scheduled to meet this afternoon with officials from B.C. to discuss the situation, though he noted the community is already working under a level two emergency response plan.