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The rain has mostly stopped Thursday morning in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, in places like Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Hope, after it was hammered by an intense downpour for 24 hours.
Flooding risk remains, however, as local rivers including those that run across the Canada-U.S. border continue to swell from the influx of water.
There have been no reports so far of catastrophic flooding like what was seen in 2021, but officials say that could still occur.
In an update on city social media pages around 1 a.m. PT, City of Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said modelling done in conjunction with B.C. and Washington state officials showed flood waters expected to “arrive at the early morning hours of Thursday morning.”
The city declared a state of local emergency around 11 p.m. PT Wednesday, which forced residents from 371 properties under an evacuation order and put others on an evacuation alert. A further eight properties are under evacuation order in Chilliwack.
Other impacts from the rain include:
The closure of all major highways leading out of the Lower Mainland.Closure of the Sumas Border crossing in both directions.Closure of all schools in the Fraser-Cascade School District on Thursday due to highway closures.Closure of Semá:th Elementary school in Abbotsford on Thursday due to the evacuation order.Evacuation alerts from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen in places like Tulameen.
Flood warnings and watches for Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope and other parts of the eastern Fraser Valley along the lower Fraser River tributaries and the Sumas River are in place.
The River Forecast Centre says the heavy rain brings the potential for spillover from the Nooksack River in Washington state, the same problem that set off devastating and costly flooding in November of 2021.
Washington state local emergency
Washington state was under a state of emergency Thursday morning from a barrage of torrential rain that has sent rivers flowing over their banks, caused a mudslide to crash down on a highway and trapped people in floodwaters. Tens of thousands of residents could face evacuation orders there.
Ben MacDicken, an operations manager for Sultan Public Works, places sandbags at the city’s post office on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in Sultan, Snohomish County, Wash. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP)
After days of seemingly unrelenting heavy rain, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state-wide emergency Wednesday night, warning “lives will be at stake in the coming days.”
Some residents have already been ordered to higher ground, with Skagit County, a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering those within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate.
Flood watches and high stream flow advisories are also in place across much of the southern portion of B.C.