Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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ABBOTSFORD — The City of Abbotsford says floodwaters are receding with some areas seeing “significant improvement,” but the Trans-Canada Highway is still closed and drivers are being warned against trying to get around flooded areas.
The city issued a statement Saturday saying water continues to flow across the border from the Nooksack River in Washington state, where it first overflowed on Wednesday.
The statement says side roads are still flooded, adding that online maps are showing inaccurate information about roads that remain closed. As for the main highway, it says there is “currently no way through” Abbotsford and Chilliwack to get to the eastern reaches of B.C.
Kelly Green, B.C.’s emergency management minister, has said about 450 properties in B.C. have been evacuated, the majority of them in Abbotsford, with 1,700 under evacuation alert.
Cindy Braun, who lives in the Delair Park area of Abbotsford, said when she was returning home on Thursday night she was surprised to see the highway had flooded.
“We said, ‘Oh brother, not again’,” she said in an interview, referring to the flooding in 2021, which she said was much worse. “Cars were still getting through (on Thursday), and we watched until it got that they couldn’t get through … and it still rose overnight …. I don’t know how long it will take to recede.”
Braun, a lifelong resident of the Fraser Valley city, said the flooding in 2021 was the worst she had ever seen.
Even though the floodwaters that poured into Abbotsford this week are receding, Environment Canada says more rain is expected across the already saturated valley.
And with more wet weather in the forecast for Sunday, officials in Chilliwack say local rivers were expected to swell, which may cause localized flooding. But they say flows are expected to be less severe than those earlier in the week.
Still, the latest forecast is calling for a “potentially significant push of moisture” on Monday and into early next week. Environment Canada is also warning of an increased risk of landslides, as the rainfall may destabilize slopes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2025.
The Canadian Press
