Arctic Red River (May 22/06) - The Dempster Highway was cut off Friday, when an ice jam forced the Mackenzie River to spill over its banks.

The flood happened near Tsiigehtchic, May 19, when a dam of ice formed on the Inuvik side of the Dempster Highway. Water covered the highway for a half-kilometre length right before the ferry crossing, and also washed out the northernmost end where the highway runs up a large hillside.

All this may have changed by today, May 22, but the breakup of the Mackenzie Delta and the surrounding rivers is always dramatic.

The "ferry camp" sitting on a knoll of ground right at the river crossing was above water as of 4 p.m., Friday. The camp contains the ferry office, the ferry and related equipment.

At 1 p.m. that day, Environment Canada was reporting that "the river is jammed solid with no ice movement."

On the Peel River at Fort McPherson, the same report said water was still rising beyond 11.107 metres.

"Ice is in very large pans cracked and shifted around, but not moved very much at Indian Village, near the mouth.

"The ice is waiting for a good slug of water to come down the Peel River to start moving," the report said. "The high water from the Mackenzie system is probably holding the water from the Peel back."

Meanwhile at Inuvik, water by the afternoon was rising beyond 14.430 metres. Breakup here usually occurs at between 12-14 metres.

"Reports say ice is solid down the middle from Inuvik to about 25 miles above, then cracked and shifting into large to medium ice pans all the way up the Kalinek Channel about 40 miles upstream," the report said.