‘All of a sudden, it just went crazy’: Locals recount flooding on Sumas Prairie

The Nooksack River in Washington state spilled over, turning farms in Abbotsford's Sumas Prairie into lakes.

It all changed so fast.

One moment, an Abbotsford road running along the border with Sumas, Wash., was dry on the Canadian side.

The next moment, water from our flooded neighbours to the south was pouring into Sumas Prairie.

“(The water) probably came up a foot, foot and a half in the last 15, 20 minutes,” an Abbotsford resident told CTV News just before the waters came over.

Dave DeBoer was watching as the flood waters from the Nooksack River in Washington state moved across the border into Abbotsford.

Forklifts from a nearby Abbotsford business quickly began moving large sandbags into place, but they were no match for the relentless flood waters that kept pouring over.

“Everything was fine until about an hour ago and then all of a sudden it just went crazy … It’s just bad,” said Vern Oystrick, who works at one of the border businesses.

Staff of a recycling company scrambled to move equipment and vehicles. Before long, the parking lot was covered in water. A remaining car was deep in water, and the road out started disappearing under the floods.

Abbotsford police pushed people out of the area, announcing on a loudspeaker that everyone needed to move back.

Evacuation orders remain in place for 371 properties on Sumas Prairie West and 82 in Huntingdon Village. More than 1,000 properties are on evacuation alert.

Curtis Jones is one of those who was told to leave.

“About 1 to 1:30 in the morning, Abbotsford Fire Rescue came by, knocked on our door, woke us up and told us there’s an order in place and we were to leave,” said Jones.

He said they had packed up some of their important things, but had not yet left their home.

As evacuation orders expanded, police went door-to-door in the Huntingdon subdivision to alert people. Some residents had already done sandbagging around their homes.

Meanwhile, worried farmers are hoping for the best, but bracing for the worst.

“The adrenaline’s pumping. I didn’t sleep much at all,” said Matt Dykshoorm, a fourth-generation dairy farmer.

“We’re expecting the water to rise drastically today.”

He’s already moved dozens of heifers from a barn, weary after the devastation caused during the floods of 2021.

He said nothing has been done since then to protect the west side of Sumas Prairie.

“We need pump stations. We need a drainage channel, or we need the Americans to pull up their socks and make some improvements on their side,” Dykshoorm said.

Police continued to close roads throughout the day as floodwaters pushed further into Abbotsford.

By early afternoon, some residents were wading through the floodwaters on their properties and some fields and roadways had been turned into a lake.