Abbotsford builds dam, braces for more flooding amid series of storms

It was another scramble Sunday night for a number of people in Abbotsford. More properties were placed under evacuation order amid flooding, with concerns mounting about further rising water levels after the Nooksack River overtopped its dike system.

The situation remains unpredictable, according to Const. Paul Walker with the Abbotsford Police Department, who tells CityNews there are concerns about the atmospheric river forecast for the region this week.

“The ground is saturated, the water has really no where to go as the rivers and streams are overflowing,” he said of the current situation in Abbotsford. “We’re hoping it’s less water than we saw the first time. We’re two weeks into this now and we hope tomorrow’s storm can kind of lighten as well.”

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A catastrophic atmospheric river swept across southern B.C. over the weekend of Nov. 13, bringing heavy rain and wind to the province. The severe weather washed out highways and flooded many areas. In Abbotsford, the heavy rain coupled with rising water levels on the Nooksack River in Washington state created dire conditions, flooding the Sumas Prairie area and forcing hundreds from their homes.

Highway 1 was re-closed between Abbotsford and Chilliwack over the weekend amid another round of heavy rain. Walker says crews were able to make some progress along the route Sunday, building a “Tiger Dam” across the highway.

More on construction of the tiger dam on HWY 1 tonight. Abby Fire crews also on hand pumping water into the dam. This will (hopefully) hold back the Sumas River floodwaters and prevent further flooding in the community. More: https://t.co/hL2yroscOx @CityNewsVAN #BCStorm pic.twitter.com/fkplCXWbLJ

— Tarnjit Kaur Parmar (@Tarnjitkparmar) November 29, 2021

“That was basically erected there to make sure that the water kind of stays in the river and not overflow. So that went up fairly quickly. That involved the military, Ministry of Transportation, Abbotsford Fire Department, and many other workers,” he said in an interview Monday morning.

However, with water from the swollen Nooksack slowly making its way back across the border and into B.C. communities, the Fraser River is once again at a critical level.

“The rain’s coming down, the water continues to flow over Boundary Road, just east of 2nd, in Huntington Village, and we expect to see the water that came over from the Nooksack sometime this morning here,” Walker said. “We don’t know how much or how little, but hopefully there’ll be a better indication in the hours to come.”

Walker says the city remains concerned about the situation, especially with more rain expected.

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Related articles: 

• ‘There’s nothing to stop it’: Abbotsford bracing for floodwater as Nooksack River overtops dike

• Flood watches, warnings raised across B.C., Fraser Valley overwhelmed

• ‘I don’t want anybody to die’: Abbotsford mayor pleads with Arnold residents who refuse to leave

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Officials have warned B.C.’s third atmospheric river, expected to hit the province on Tuesday, could be the worst one yet in the series of storms that have swept through in recent weeks.

South of the border, the city of Sumas has been activating its flood siren to warn locals about rising water levels. After having used the system over the weekend, the city triggered the siren again on Monday, with the sound heard even on the B.C. side of the border.

Officials in Sumas say water is expected to “start to spread out and go through town,” though they add they are “still encouraged because the flow continues to slow down.”

Kirby Cook with the National Weather Service says, in general, the Nooksack has dropped below flood stage in a number of areas upstream. The only remaining location that’s above flood stage is around the station in Ferndale. Cook expects the river to crest in that area sometime Monday morning.

“The current forecast has it dropping below flood stage late tonight, early tomorrow morning. In the lower reach of the river, it takes a little while for that water to work itself all the way down to Bellingham Bay,” Cook explained.

“In terms of what’s happening at Everson, which is that part of the Nooksack that’s gone over its banks and flooded north in through Sumas and across the border, it does look like the gauge at Everson crested late last night.”

However, Cook says there are a number of indications that the Nooksack continues to drop there too.

“Those are all good signs. It gets a little tricky in terms of when the impacts associated with all this water are going to stop, but certainly, a lot of the key thresholds that we often look at were at or approaching them,” he told CityNews. “It looks like we’ll improvements through the day today, and it certainly is trending towards the positive, for sure.”

-With files from Lisa Steacy, Denise Wong, and Claire Fenton