VANCOUVER — Flooding and rock slides have cut off British Columbia’s Lower Mainland from the Interior as a series of atmospheric river weather systems drench the province, with emergency officials saying cross-border water flows rival those that triggered catastrophic floods in 2021.
B.C. Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene told a news conference late Wednesday that the City of Abbotsford has put about 1,000 properties under evacuation alert, while several properties in neighbouring Chilliwack were under evacuation order.
She told people to avoid all unnecessary travel to the Fraser Valley, where regional officials earlier declared a state of local emergency.
“We need people to stay off the roads for safety and to ensure roads are clear for people who need to evacuate,” Green said.
As of 9:30 p.m. local time, officials in Abbotsford upgraded the evacuation alert to an order for 371 properties in Sumas Prairie West due to flooding risk. They say residents in the affected area must leave immediately. Evacuation Alerts have also been issued for Sumas Prairie East and remain in place for the rest of Sumas Prairie West and Clayburn Village. Emergency responders are in the area to assist with the evacuation.
Janelle Staite with the Transportation Ministry told the briefing that in addition to Highway 99 connecting the Lower Mainland and the Interior, closures have also hit multiple points of Highway 1, with a “significant amount” of water crossing the road near Hope and Highway 9.
Staite says closures are also in place on Highway 7 west of Hope, Highway 3 in the Allison Pass area, and the Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt.
With the Highway 99 closure in place between Pemberton and Mount Curry, “we will not have access until at least tomorrow throughout the corridor and into the mainland and the Interior,” Staite said.
Connie Chapman, executive director of in the provincial Water Management Branch, said that while rain in the Fraser Valley was easing Wednesday night, the Nooksack River across the U.S. border would continue to top its banks into early Thursday.
Outflows from the Nooksack caused disastrous flooding in the Fraser Valley four years ago, resulting in billions of dollars in damage, as well as in 1990.
“One thing to start with is that the volume of water coming out of the Nooksack is a similar volume of water that was seen in 1990 and also in 2021,” Chapman said.
“With that being said, there are many variables to take into consideration as to what the impacts of this volume of water may transpire.”
Chapman said it was believed the Nooksack River would begin to recede by Thursday morning, although the modelling would not be 100 per cent accurate.
Greene said there had been many lessons learned from 2021 and there have been many improvements, although she said work on the crucial Barrowtown pump station had started, but wasn’t complete.
The pump station came very close to being overwhelmed by floodwaters four years ago.
She said there is much stronger communication now between the province and communities, including in Washington state.
“We have repaired the breaches in the dike in Sumas that happened in 2021, so all of that work collectively I think puts us in a much better situation to respond as the situation changes,” she said.
But it will still likely be a sleepless night for many in the Fraser Valley.
As rain pummelled the Fraser Valley on Wednesday, poultry farmer Corry Spitters and his family started to calculate their possible losses, with memories of the devastation four years ago still vivid.
“We’re just going through what our liabilities are if things get any worse,” said Spitters, whose Oranya Farm lost 200,000 chickens during the catastrophic flooding that year.
“One of our neighbours right now has got a full crew out there harvesting brussels sprouts, because they’ve got to salvage what they can because it’s probably going to be underwater by tomorrow,” he said on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of animals, most of them poultry, died when floodwaters swamped the Fraser Valley in 2021.
Kevin Dunbar, with the Ministry of Emergency Management, said the City of Abbotsford and other communities in the Fraser Valley are working around the clock to keep people, infrastructure and farm animals safe during the storm and potential flood.
“There are protocols in place to support evacuation, whether it be of properties, people and also of animals and farms.”
Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said in a video statement Wednesday that officials recognize the heavy rain and localized flooding is “likely causing some anxiety, given the events of 2021.”
“I want to assure you that we are in a much better place than we were in 2021 and that the emergency operations centre is fully staffed and prepared to support as this event unfolds,” he said, adding that he is in contact with provincial emergency officials.
Fraser Valley Regional District said in its emergency declaration that there was a risk of landslides, debris flows, mudslides and flooding due to the heavy rain.
It said the emergency order would remain in place for 14 days unless conditions improve enough to rescind it earlier.
An evacuation alert was also issued by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen due to the threat of flooding.
More than 100 millimetres of rain were forecast for parts of B.C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
