Some residents in Nahanni Butte, N.W.T., were put on standby to leave their homes Thursday, as a rising Liard River presents the potential for flooding.

Community officials held an emergency meeting Thursday morning and asked the territorial Department of Municipal Affairs to be ready to clear people out of the Dene community of 115.

"They're going to evacuate the elders and moms with small children to Fort Liard," band office worker Peter Marcellais told CBC News on Thursday afternoon.

"If it gets too close to our power plant, then they're going to have to shut that down, too. And that's what they're worried about, because once the power's out, there's no communication."

Nahanni Butte is about 500 kilometres southwest of Yellowknife near the southwestern corner of the Northwest Territories.

Meanwhile, 89 kilometres south of Nahanni Butte, people in Fort Liard, N.W.T., say they are out of danger from the Liard River.

Local safety officer Robert Firth said the river started its annual breakup Monday morning, and water levels kept rising on Tuesday.

"Wednesday ... the ice was jammed up about six kilometres down the river, downstream from Fort Liard, and it broke loose and the high water levels disappeared," Firth said.