The Fraser Valley flood

On Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, rain was falling in the Fraser Valley. By Monday, the Fraser Valley had been all but cut off from the rest of the province, and rising waters in the American Nooksack River threatened local farmland. By December, floodwaters inundated all of Sumas Prairie, homes were lost to raging rivers, and millions of dollars in damage had affected the entire valley.

Here, you can find all of our stories from the more than two-week disaster, including analysis, breaking news, and investigation

• Facing the future

• Handling the aftermath

• Understanding disaster

• The crisis in photos

• The disaster, as it happened

Facing the future

Although the flood is now over, the valley still needs to prepare for what comes next. These stories look at how the Fraser Valley is preparing for a future with more floods on the horizon.

• Backups & bypasses: what happens if a flood hits a Fraser Valley sewage plant? (March 25, 2022)

• Abbotsford says taming Nooksack River could cost up to $2.8 billion (April 1, 2022)

• Floodgates, international politics, and the case for a new $700 million pump station (April 8, 2022)

• Abbotsford mulls the creation of floodways and buyouts on Sumas Prairie (April 14, 2022)

• ‘Total optimism’ as Sumas Prairie’s littlest farms rebuild (April 28, 2022)

• November landslides quietly knocked out Abbotsford & Mission water source (May 17, 2022)

• The bureaucracy of disaster: what happened on Othello Road? (May 26, 2022)

• The science of November (May 30, 2022)

Handling the aftermath

When the water receded and the debris was cleared, there was still much left for the Fraser Valley to do. These are our stories on what happened after the disaster.

• From Hope to Barrowtown: 11 questions to prepare for the next disaster (Dec. 15, 2021)

• OPINION: Canada’s flood-risk management needs stronger leadership (Jan. 10, 2022)

• Three ways the federal government can protect flood-prone communities. 1 thing you can do. (Jan. 10, 2022)

• Fraser Valley evacuees still waiting for financial assistance from province (Jan. 20, 2022)

• US floodway lays out route for floodwaters between Nooksack and Canadian border (Jan. 25, 2022)

• How raising the Sumas dike could spur highway widening between Chilliwack & Abbotsford (Jan. 28, 2022)

• Small towns, big disasters (Jan. 31, 2022)

• ‘Sometimes we’re shaking our head’: Hope waits for province as flood danger increases (Feb. 7, 2021)

• $228M in recovery funding for Fraser Valley farmers (Feb. 7, 2022)

• Big disasters, small budgets (Feb. 9, 2022)

• A motorcycle club answers a stranger’s call for help (Nov. 14, 2022)

• Big problems, big solutions (Feb. 18, 2022)

• Will billions in ‘recovery’ money boost flood defences? (Feb. 23, 2022)

• ‘We haven’t forgotten them’: Concert launched to support flood victims (Feb. 24, 2022)

• Fraser Valley rural areas still lack detailed evacuation plans years after audit warning (March 2, 2022)

• A deep dive into Sumas Prairie’s soil (March 8, 2022)

Understanding disaster

While the Fraser Valley was experiencing its most costly disaster in decades, The Current was working to help residents understand why.

• Sumas Lake, the Nooksack River, and the historic roots of a 21st Century disaster (Nov. 16, 2021)

• One day at a time: tackling the Fraser Valley’s dairy crisis (Nov. 19, 2021)

• A doomed Sumas dike failed as predicted. Many other levees could be next. (Nov. 22, 2021)

• What is underneath all that water on Sumas Prairie? (Nov. 24, 2021)

• More than a drop in the bucket: last week’s deluge in context (Nov. 25, 2021)

• The Volcano and The River (Nov. 29, 2021)

• The two Sumas prairies, and why the Barrowtown floodgates are so important (Nov. 30, 2021)

• The bureaucracy and the flood: disaster hits the valley’s rural communities (Nov. 30, 2021)

• Grinding to a halt: a look inside the Fraser Valley’s rail system (Dec. 2, 2021)

• Our Crisis: What the storms taught us about our valley—and ourselves (Dec. 3, 2021)

• What to read when you want to know more about Sumas Lake (Dec. 7, 2021)

• Thousands of animals died on Sumas Prairie. This is what happened to them. (Dec. 10, 2021)

• In the nick of time: Behind Trans Mountain’s longest shutdown (Dec. 17, 2021)

The crisis in photos

Abbotsford was underwater. The army was arriving with sandbags. Helicopters touched down for rescue missions in local airports. This is what we saw.

• Abbotsford underwater: photos from the Sumas Prairie flooding (Nov. 16, 2021)

• PHOTOS: Aerial views of the flooding in Abbotsford and Chilliwack (Nov. 17, 2021)

• PHOTOS: Weekend at the Chilliwack Airport (Nov. 21, 2021)

• PHOTOS: Inside Abbotsford’s emergency operations centre (Nov. 29, 2021)

• PHOTOS: PM visits flood devastation in Abbotsford (Nov. 29, 2021)

• The $1.8 million view of BC’s floods and landslides (Dec. 20, 2021)

The disaster, as it happened

Breaking news is a hallmark of every disaster. These are stories that show what was happening as it happened. Stories with an asterisk* were updated throughout the flood. The date and headline represents the first publication of the article.

• The latest on flooding and mudslides in the Fraser Valley* (Nov. 14-19, 2021)

• Sumas Prairie evacuation order issued hours after public safety minister declined to give warning (Nov. 15, 2021)

• BREAKING: Catastrophic damage predicted in Abbotsford* (Nov. 16, 2021)

• Dikes overtopping, highway may be closed for days, Abbotsford mayor says (Nov. 16, 2021)

• Highway 7 now open to those stranded in Hope and emergency vehicles (Nov. 17, 2021)

• Wednesday brings mostly good news for flood-struck valley (Nov. 17, 2021)

• Highway 7 likely to open today east of Agassiz, no word on Chilliwack-Hope link (Nov. 18, 2021)

• A Nooksack River flood looks increasingly possible (Nov. 23, 2021)

• Hell’s Gate Airtram has survived floods (Nov. 23, 2021)

• Fraser Valley Floods: How to give (and get) help (Nov. 26, 2021)

• Three local highways to close in advance of more rain* (Nov. 27, 2021)

• Thousands of sandbags and a grateful community (Nov. 30, 2021)

• How to get around southern BC: a post-crisis highway primer (Dec. 3, 2021)

• You might need a permit before fixing your flooded home (Dec. 7, 2021)

• BC dairy farmers dumped 7.5M litres of milk in November (Dec. 15, 2021)