Floodwaters rising in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, pushing more people out

VANCOUVER — Floodwaters pushing in from Washington state are forcing more people from their properties in Abbotsford, B.C.

The city has ordered people to leave another 82 homes as water from the Nooksack River in the United States spread over the Fraser Valley, joining about 400 other property owners rushed out overnight.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says more than 160 farms are in the way of those floodwaters and are either on evacuation order or alert, although the poultry, cows and hogs are considered safe.

David Campbell with the BC River Forecast Centre says the water from the Nooksack will continue to spill into the Fraser Valley into Friday after a series of atmospheric rivers dumped up to 150 millimetres of rain in some areas since Tuesday.

North Shore Rescue says in a statement that it helped rescuers in Chilliwack, B.C., pull a group of five people and their four dogs off an island in the middle of the Chilliwack River as floodwaters rose around them.

The agency says the rescue took several hours early this morning as the group and their animals had to be hoisted to safety by helicopter.

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