VANCOUVER: Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a coastal flooding statement warning of potential flooding across parts of Metro Vancouver and the Greater Victoria area on Friday due to an approaching storm surge. The weather agency noted that elevated ocean water levels, enhanced wave activity, and strong winds are expected throughout the day and could persist into the weekend.
Peak water levels are projected to occur between 10 a.m. and noon PCT on Friday. The advisory covers low-lying and exposed coastal sections of Metro Vancouver and the Musqueam First Nation, stretching from Boundary Bay to Semiahmoo Bay. It also includes the Southern Gulf Islands, Saanich Inlet, and the coastline running from Swartz Bay to Cordova Bay and through to East Sooke. According to meteorologists, Pacific low-pressure systems coinciding with a period of high tides will drive the surge, accompanied by wind gusts reaching 60 to 80 kilometres per hour in exposed coastal zones.
The coastal warning follows intense storms that dumped more than 300 millimetres of rain across parts of southwestern British Columbia over a 48-hour period, triggering widespread evacuation orders and alerts. Shelter-in-place advisories remain active in B.C.’s Pemberton Valley and sections of the District of Squamish as rising floodwaters threaten local infrastructure, roadways, and residential properties.
In response to exceptionally high water flows along the Green River, the Líl̓wat Nation expanded its community evacuation order on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, in Pemberton, active evacuation orders encompass the Pemberton Regional Airport, the B.C. Wildfire Service base, local golf course facilities, an animal shelter, and several residential properties. Officials in the District of Squamish noted that a weakening atmospheric river system will bring a temporary reprieve with lower rainfall through Friday evening, though another round of heavy rain is forecast from Saturday evening through Sunday.
