Winds caused storm surges and flooding in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., this past weekend — something the community’s mayor says he’s never seen happen with relatively calm winds.
Mayor Erwin Elias says it used to take 100 km/h winds to have impacts like this, and this weekend only saw winds reach about 50 to 70 km/h.
“I’ve never seen the waters come up like this,” he said.
“Water was all around the community and we had a few sections throughout the community where water crossed over some roads and our whole coastline beach. You know, we’ve never ever seen the whole beach be covered with water.”
‘Water was all around the community and we had a few sections throughout the community where water crossed over some roads and our whole coastline beach,’ says Mayor Erwin Elias. (Submitted by Charlene Ann Chicksi )
Elias said it’s common to see significant storm surges in August and September, but added that seeing these impacts during relatively low winds is “very concerning” for the future.
He said the flooding didn’t cause too much damage, other than to some structures on the shoreline, like smokehouses and fishing camps. He said the community members are used to preparing for surges and move their boats and equipment to higher ground.
“So all this week we were on alert, you know, in case we had to potentially move some people out of their homes.”
Storm surge warnings
Jesse Wagar, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change (ECC) Canada, said they issued a storm surge warning in the community on Sunday morning.
The storm surge alerting program is brand new for the North — ECC previously sent coastal flood warnings to other jurisdictions across Canada but the program started just this year in the Arctic.
“So we’re very glad that that alert went out and that it was received,” Wagar said.
She said peak water levels were just over two metres on Sunday evening, and water levels were elevated throughout the weekend in Tuktoyaktuk.
Wagar said the community saw a similar storm surge last October, which was the highest they’d seen in the last 10 years — so the frequency of these events is increasing.
Wagar said Tuktoyaktuk is the “poster child” for global sea level rise.
“We are in peak storm surge season for that area. So I would expect to see a few more events before this year is out.”
Water can be seen up to steps in Tuktoyaktuk over the weekend. The mayor said there wasn’t too much damage in the community. (Submitted by Charlene Ann Chicksi )
Relocating the community
Erosion from powerful waves and thawing permafrost has been collapsing Tuktoyaktuk’s coastline by about one metre each year.
The community secured federal funding for shoreline protection to slow ongoing erosion, which Elias hopes will be complete by May 2025. That’s involved lining the shore with large rocks and geotextile matting to slow the effect of the waves on the beach and shore. There’s also a focus on Tuktoyaktuk Island, which protects the harbour from ocean waves.
Elias says the community will ultimately have to move. Several homes have already been relocated to a subdivision called Reindeer Point, and Elias says they’ve identified an area six kilometres south of that to move the whole community.
He said individual government departments have come to talk to them about how to make that happen, which has been frustrating.
“The rippling effect that this whole thing has, when you talk about relocation, you know, where do you go? When do you go? And you know how, how are you going to do it? Like, are you moving 20 houses? Are you moving ten houses? Are you moving 100 houses? We have no idea. And that ball needs to get rolling now.”
He hopes all levels of government will start working together to get a plan in action for the nearly 1,000 residents and hundreds of homes and other buildings in the community.
“The research and science are saying that Tuk will be totally covered within 30 years,” Elias said.
“So how long do we wait? And you know, for me, I feel that today is a state of emergency.”