Dozens of homes along the Chilliwack River are under an evacuation alert as the water levels keep climbing following a week of heavy rain.
Damage from the atmospheric rivers has also forced the partial closure of the road to Cultus Lake.
“A lot of anxiety, a lot of stress,” Rob Unrau, who lives on Sheldon Road, which is under evacuation alert, said.
“A few people questioning their decision to live here permanently as a result of three high-water events within three months.”
The Fraser Valley Regional District is keeping a close eye on around 30 properties, most of them along the Chilliwack River.
Crews have been out along Sheldon Road working to build up a dyke to protect the properties nearby.
Unrau said they are grateful the district is doing that.
“Three months ago, when it came through, it came through our yard and flooded out the whole neighborhood and did over a quarter million dollars damage,” he said.
“So we needed something better for the neighbourhood.”
Near Cultas Lake, mudslides have been reported and advisories are now in place for motorists.
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Between Thursday and Friday, Environment Canada estimates up to 120 millimetres of rain fell on the region.
“It’s going to take time for those basins to come down and draw down,” Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said.
“And the other things that could be very interesting is we’ve got root systems on trees now that are exceptionally saturated. So we could look at getting some trees coming down if we get a good wind blow coming through.”
Orange rainfall warnings remain in place for the Fraser Valley and northeast Metro Vancouver.
Warnings are also in place for western Vancouver Island, the Fraser Canyon, Howe Sound, Whistler, the Highway 1 corridor from Vancouver to the Alberta boundary and the Kootenay region.
“One of the things that we have some concerns about is watch for winds on the backside of this frontal system, especially out in the Fraser Valley,” Proctor added.
“So we may see some blow down, we may see some limbs and trees coming down on power lines, which would not be a great situation given what we’ve had so far. But it is a concern moving forward.”
Residents are urged to be vigilant and watch for weather-related road closures and localized flooding.
On Thursday, eight people, two dogs and a cat had to be rescued from their Coquitlam homes after a landslide cut off access to the road to their houses.
Why aren’t you covering the devastation in Hawaii ?