Weekend rainfall floods southwest B.C., implying flood alerts, evacuations

Key takeaways:

The region has barred Highway 1 near Abbotsford, B.C.
A vehicle is overturned on the Trans-Canada Highway Sunday after abundant rainfall in southwest B.C.

Rainfall in southern BC prompts floodings:

More major rain flooded southwestern B.C. on Sunday created already grown waterways to flood and making more people evacuate their homes.

In hard-hit Abbotsford, southeast of Metro Vancouver, officials were told that waters had raised above a dam on the Nooksack River in Washington State, and was blending between the river and a nearby road.

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun assumed the water to ultimately reach Abbotsford and that the present sandbag walls were not sufficient to alleviate flooding.

Surging waters indicated the region to close the TransCanada Highway (Highway 1) between Abbotsford and Chilliwack at 5 p.m. PT Sunday night.

New evacuation regulations were announced for homes in the Huntingdon Village region of Abbotsford. Later Sunday evening, more evacuation laws were announced for seven houses on the city’s Whatcom Road, while other properties along Sandringham Drive were put on an evacuation warning following a mudslide in the region.

Evacuation orders were also announced for houses at Chilliwack Lake Road, east of Abbotsford and also for Othello Road, which goes on the Coquihalla River.

Meantime, the RCMP moved door-to-door in the Petit Creek and Spius Creek region south of Lytton along Highway 1 to report people to evacuate their houses.

On Sunday, B.C.’s River Forecast Centre announced a flood warning for the Coquihalla River and the Sumas River, which add Sumas Prairie and the neighbouring region.

It also improved flood watches to signs for the Tulameen River, Coldwater River, and Lower Nicola River.

A flood alert means river levels have passed banks and that flooding in nearby areas will occur.