The Fraser Valley flood

Find every story the Fraser Valley Current wrote about the 2021 landslides and flooding here.

Author

Fraser Valley Current staff
March 08, 2022

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 investigations.

Politics of disaster

Although the flood is now over, the valley still needs to prepare for what comes next. These stories look at what governments are, and aren’t, doing to prevent another Nooksack River flood and manage the damage from 2021.

International

Provincial

Local

Behind the infrastructure

Although the 2021 disaster was a result of natural events, infrastructure played a major role in helping and hindering efforts to mitigate its impacts. We reported extensively on key pieces of infrastructure, including dikes, pump stations, and highways.

Dikes and pump stations

Other infrastructure

Understanding disaster

Sumas Lake was at the centre of Fraser Valley life for thousands' of years, before it was drained a century ago.

While the Fraser Valley was experiencing its most costly disaster in decades, The Current was working to help residents understand why. That work is still ongoing, as new research continues to evolve our understanding of the 2021 events.

Rivers and other water

Agriculture

Sharing the human experience

The floods, landslides, and related disasters of November 2021 took a significant toll on residents in the Fraser Valley. These stories look at the challenges faced by disaster victims, but also celebrate their resiliency.

The Climate Disaster Project

The Current partnered with the University of Victoria’s Climate Disaster Project to share the stories of people directly affected by the Fraser Valley’s disaster. You can read an overview of the project here.

Thoughts from November

Debris from November's floods is still scattered across parts of Sumas Prairie. 📷 Grace Kennedy

After November 2021, we began sharing what we had learned from the disaster. Years later, there are still more questions to be asked.

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.

The disaster, as it happened

A view of the flooded highway 1. Highway sign reads: "Very slow traffic. Reduced speed ahead."

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.

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