Flood and rainfall warnings remain in place for parts of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland as about 100 properties are under evacuation order.
“This remains a dynamic and evolving situation and the risks are real,” said Kelly Greene, B.C.’s emergency management and climate readiness minister, in an update early Monday afternoon.
“The ground is saturated in many areas. The rivers are full. Additional rainfall is going to increase the potential for more flooding and landslides,” said Greene.
About 1,200 properties are under evacuation alert due to flooding in the Fraser Valley region, meaning residents should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Greene said crews deployed over 30,000 sandbags as B.C’s south coast saw heavy rainfall starting Sunday.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued an orange-level rainfall warning for the Fraser and Skagit valleys, meaning there’s the possibility of serious disruption or damage. About 80 millimetres are expected in higher elevations.
ECCC said the rain is expected to ease by early Monday evening as the system moves off.
Agriculture and Food Minister Lana Popham said there were no reports of rising water on farms.
Popham said six poultry farms were flooded since last week and ministry staff were helping farmers navigate the situation, including animal disposal where necessary.
She said work is ongoing to ensure livestock can be relocated if floodwaters rise over the next 12-hours.
She added that one hog farm is cut off from receiving supplies and the province is looking into possibly delivering food to the farm by helicopter.
Popham also said she spoke to the federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Heath MacDonald on Monday morning, and asked for more support.
“We need to make sure that the federal government’s at the table when we’re requesting funding to try and find solutions for this situation into the future,” said Popham.
Last week, Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens slammed Ottawa’s response to the flooding, which comes four-years after the devastating floods of November 2021.
Connie Chapman, executive director of water management for the province, said flood levels are expected to recede through Monday evening. She said warnings remain in place for the Sumas and Chilliwack Rivers, but the Nooksack in Washington state is not expected to over top its banks.
She said flood warnings are also in place for the North Shore Mountains where many streams were just beginning to peak on Monday afternoon.
Chapman said rain is expected Tuesday in the Hope, Chilliwack and Abbotsford areas, but colder temperatures mean it will fall as snow in higher elevations.
Sections of Highways 1 and 99 that the province had proactively closed were reopened midday on Monday, though there’s an advisory in place for Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon due to high winds.
There’s no estimated reopening time yet for Highway 3 between Hope and East Gate (Manning Park). DriveBC said there are 21 sites that were seriously damaged, including landslide, culvert blowouts, and road washouts.
The Sumas Canada-U.S. border crossing is also closed to all traffic.
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