Thursday will be an assessment and recovery day after torrential rains caused Fraser Valley flooding and cut three highway routes between the B.C. Interior and the Lower Mainland. Heavy rains triggered a handful of evacuation orders in areas including the Chilliwack River Valley. Evacuation alerts had been issued for other areas including Abbotsford’s Clayburn Village and Sumas Prairie West. Access to the Huntingdon-Sumas border crossing remained closed except for local residents. Small slides, flooding and hazardous conditions are responsible for closing many of the main out-of-town highways. As of Wednesday night, Highway One had been closed heading east at Highway 9 and also between Hope and Lytton. Other closures included the Hope-Princeton Highway, the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt and even the Lougheed Highway west of Hope. Meanwhile, the flood siren at the City Hall in Sumas, Washington has been going off as Whatcom County deals with numerous problems relating to the overflowing Nooksack River. Water has been flowing over Main Street in Everson and Mount Baker Highway has been closed at Silver Lake. Close to 100,000 people in Western Washington are subject to evacuation alerts or orders.
