165 farms under flood evacuation order or alert in B.C.’s Fraser Valley

VANCOUVER — More than 160 farms are in the way of floodwaters in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, although provincial Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says poultry, cows and hogs are considered safe.

Floodwaters from the Nooksack River in Washington state continue to threaten the area and will rise into Friday, in the wake of atmospheric river weather systems that drenched both sides of the border.

David Campbell with the BC River Forecast Centre says another wet weather system is coming on the weekend, but by then most of the rivers will have had time to recover.

The Fraser Valley through Hope, B.C., received the brunt of the storm with 140 millimetres of rain falling Wednesday at the local airport, while 110 millimetres fell in Chilliwack and 101 millimetres at the summit of the Coquihalla Highway.

Janelle Staite, with the B.C. Ministry of Transportation, says they are working to reopen many of the major routes that were shut late Wednesday, severing access between the Lower Mainland and B.C.’s Interior

Staite says while the deluge did have an impact on highways, the damage is not near as bad as during the weather disaster of November 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.