Case Study

Fraser Valley Regional District
2021 Atmospheric River

After Action Report (AAR)

An Atmospheric River event took place in Southern British Columbia from November 14^th through December 2^nd, 2021. The event led to extensive flooding and within 24-hours numerous homes were either subject to evacuation orders or alerts. 4 homes destroyed, another home damaged to an extent that it is still uninhabitable, and another 6 homes rendered unsafe to return to following the event. At its peak there were countless resources involved in the response which included but not limited to; Volunteer Fire departments, Non-governmental agencies, FVRD staff, etc. The flooding occurred across southern BC taxing all systems in extreme ways. At one point it resulted in closure of all highways through FVRD and as a result it isolated part of the Fraser Valley from the rest of BC.  Additionally, local roads were damaged, isolating parts of Electoral Area communities from the region. There were also power outages throughout the emergency which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding additional challenges to the response.

Participating Agencies included:

• Fraser Valley Regional District Board and staff
• Volunteer Fire Departments:
  • Sunshine Valley Fire Department
  • Cultus Lake Fire Department
  • Yale Fire Department
  • Boston Bar/North Bend Fire Department
  • North Fraser Fire Department
  • Columbia Valley Fire Department
  • Popkum Fire Department
  • Chilliwack River Valley Fire Department
• NGOs:
  • Camp Hope
  • Camp Squeah
  • Team Rubicon
• Stranded Travelers
• District of Hope
• City of Chilliwack
• District of Kent
• Cultus Lake Park Board
• Dewdney Area Improvement District
• EOC Group