British ColumbiaAbbotsford is the only area of B.C. that remains under flood warning on Friday, with hundreds still under evacuation orders including in areas where unhoused people were already living in vulnerable conditions. Two RV encampments facing flood threat under evacuation order, alertNick Logan · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 7:17 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Fraser Valley Search and Rescue operators carry a boat in the Sumas Prairie West area of Abbotsford — among the only areas of the province still on flood warning, which is leading to worries for the unhoused population. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Leaving home is a difficult choice for Kristy Wesa, whose housing situation is already vulnerable, but now faces a flood-related evacuation order in Abbotsford, B.C.The Fraser Valley city is the only area of the province that remains under a flood warning on Friday, after days of heavy rain and rising floodwaters. Wesa been taking shelter in a motorhome in an encampment along Whatcom Road, but says it’s been a struggle to say warm and dry. “There’s so much rain, it’s causing our floors to get wet,” she said. “We need a little bit of help.” Kristy Wesa is one of many people living in Abbotsford’s Whatcom Road RV encampment, which is in an area under evacuation order. Wesa told CBC News she and other people are struggling to keep warm and dry as rain and floodwaters have soaked through the floors of some of the trailers parked at the site. (Martin Diotte/CBC)Even though floodwaters were expected to peak on Friday, the B.C. River Forecast Centre’s Dave Campbell said Friday that another atmospheric river moving into the region will bring more rainfall on Sunday and into Monday — and that there will be further precipitation throughout the week. As of Friday, more than 450 properties in the area were already under evacuation order in the Fraser Valley, mainly in Abbotsford, with a further 1,900 on alert.The Whatcom Road encampment is among the areas where people have been told to leave. WATCH | What the B.C. River Forecast Centre expects:Hear what the B.C. River Forecast Centre is expecting over the weekend David Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, outlined what’s expected in the coming days after flooding hit parts of the Fraser Valley.Getting out of mother nature’s wayRichard Maloney says he packed up and left his trailer late Thursday night, when officials issued a new evacuation order. He says he’s “hoping for the best, but expecting the worst” as he waits to see if floodwaters will affect his home. Maloney says he grabbed what personal items he could and packed up his car. He put whatever else he couldn’t bring with him as high up as possible.PHOTOS | Devastation in Fraser Valley: “There’s nothing I can do to stop the floodwater or damage or anything like that,” he said. “I just gotta help the people around me as best I can.”He says he’s trying to stay positive for now, and that he can worry about what happens to his possessions “down the road.” “You just gotta play it smart [and] get out of the way of mother nature.” Richard Maloney was forced to pack up and leave his trailer after a late-night evacuation order in Abbotsford on Thursday. (Martin Diotte/CBC)2nd encampment under evacuation alertBut shelter space may be limited if more unhoused people under evacuation orders and alerts are forced to move, according to Ward Draper, a pastor with 5 and 2 Ministries who works with unhoused people. Draper says there’s a gap in the number of shelter beds compared to the number of unhoused people living in the area, including those residing in trailers and vehicles parked in the Whatcom encampment and another at the Cole Road rest stop that is also under evacuation alert. People living in trailers, RVs and other vehicles at Abbotsford’s Whatcom Road encampment are under evacuation order as the city remains under a flood warning. (Martin Diotte/CBC News)The latter, which is the larger of the two, is cut off by flood waters over Highway 1 and nearby roads and only accessible from the east side, says Jesse Wegenast, executive director of Sparrow Community Care Society.He says that’s making it difficult to communicate with people there, should Cole Road be upgraded to an evacuation order.A flooded Highway 1 in Abbotsford is seen on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Sparrow Community Care Society is operating an overnight shelter with 20 beds — with the ability to expand capacity to 50 — that was opened as a part of the province’s extreme weather response program. According to the B.C. Housing website, there are 13 year-round and extreme weather response shelters operating in Abbotsford, with 267 available beds.WATCH | The 2021 floods and how mitigation work is still lagging:B.C. is flooding again and all eyes are on Washington stateFloodwaters are rising again in B.C.’s Fraser Valley on Thursday, even after the rain has stopped. The surge is coming from Washington state, where the Nooksack River is spilling northward for the second time in four years. Atmospheric rivers amped up by climate change are stacking up, and cross-border mitigation work is still dragging on. The CBC’s Johanna Wagstaffe looks into why B.C. is once again waiting for a flood peak it can’t fully control. Wegenast says communication is better than 2021, when an atmospheric river caused widespread flooding and damage across southwestern B.C. However, he finds it “very frustrating” that there are still shortcomings in supporting unhoused people in extreme weather — including not having shelter space for them to use during the daytime.”This has been an ongoing struggle and a conversation that we have had for many, many years and something that continues to be a jurisdictional gap as to who the provision of day space for homeless individuals falls to,” he said.Corrections A previous version of this story stated that Jesse Wegenast told CBC News he was frustrated by a lack of 24-hour shelter space, when in fact he said he was frustrated by a lack of daytime shelter space.Dec 12, 2025 10:38 PM ESTABOUT THE AUTHORNick Logan is a senior writer with CBC based in Vancouver. He is a multi-platform reporter and producer, with a particular focus on international news. You can reach out to him at nick.logan@cbc.ca.With files from Baneet Braich
‘We need a little bit of help:’ Floods put unhoused people in B.C.’s Fraser Valley at further risk
