Pemberton evacuation order, Highway 99 closed as flooding hits BC's Sea-to-Sky corridor

An evacuation order is in effect for properties along Airport Road in Pemberton and the entire area is under a shelter-in-place advisory after a series of atmospheric rivers delivered more than 200 mm of rain to the Sea-to-Sky corridor in 48 hours. Highway 99 east of Pemberton is closed. Flood warnings from the BC River Forecast Centre cover the Pemberton Valley, Howe Sound and large parts of Vancouver Island.

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District issued the warning as of the morning of November 12, 2026, telling residents and visitors in Electoral Areas C and D to prepare for flooding affecting the Pemberton Valley, Howe Sound and the Sea-to-Sky areas.

What is under evacuation order and alert

The Village of Pemberton issued an evacuation order for properties on Airport Road. That order covers the Pemberton airport, the wastewater treatment facility, the wildland fire base and the golf course.

About 30 properties in Zeballos, a small community on northwest Vancouver Island, are also under evacuation order due to flooding and landslide risk, Global News reported.

Residents in Electoral Area C and the Pemberton village are under evacuation alert, one level below an order, meaning they must be prepared to leave on short notice. The SLRD has also issued a shelter-in-place advisory for the Pemberton Valley: residents may lose road access and should stay where they are until conditions change.

The Lil'wat Nation has expanded its evacuation alert to cover the area from Kwetsa7 along the Lillooet River corridor south to Lillooet Lake, Global News reported.

Jen Ford, the regional district chair, told Global News: "We have high water marks being breached all over the valley," adding that all three rivers running through Pemberton are running high.

What the BC River Forecast Centre says

The BC River Forecast Centre has issued three levels of warning across the province:

A Flood Warning covers the Pemberton Valley, Howe Sound and the Sea-to-Sky corridor, and also the Kingcome River. At warning level, the Centre says river levels have exceeded or will imminently exceed the banks.

A Flood Watch covers all four regions of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast. A watch means rivers are rising and may approach or exceed the banks.

High Streamflow Advisories are in effect for the Fraser Valley, the Fraser Canyon and the Chilcotin. At advisory level, rivers are rising rapidly and minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.

How much rain has fallen

Environment and Climate Change Canada measurements collected by Global News show 48-hour rainfall totals across the region as of the morning of November 12:

• Kennedy Lake (Vancouver Island): 248 mm
• Porteau Cove (Sea-to-Sky): 140 mm
• Whistler: 138 mm
• Squamish: 134 mm
• Port Alberni: 123 mm

The same system brought unusually warm air into the province. On November 11, Environment and Climate Change Canada recorded 31 locations across BC at or above their historical daily temperature highs for that date. Vancouver reached 17 degrees Celsius, breaking a record set in 1896, according to Daily Hive. White Rock reached 18.7 degrees Celsius and Abbotsford reached 20.1 degrees Celsius. Morgen Shull, a meteorologist with ECCC, told Daily Hive the warming came from "strong southerly winds" bringing "near-subtropical flow" and "very moist, warm air" into the region. He described the temperature swing in Abbotsford as dramatic: the mercury went from 14 degrees Celsius at 2 p.m. on November 11 to 20 degrees Celsius one hour later.

The warm, wet air is also raising the snowline, which means rain is falling at higher elevations than usual and running off faster. That effect compounds the flooding risk in river valleys like the Pemberton Valley, where three rivers converge.

Roads and services affected

Highway 99 is closed from Rancheree Road east of Pemberton because of flooding, Global News reported. No timeline for reopening has been given. The closure separates Pemberton from the rest of the Sea-to-Sky corridor and means residents in that community cannot drive south toward Whistler or Vancouver without an alternate route. Drivers should check current highway conditions at DriveBC.ca before travelling anywhere in the Sea-to-Sky region.

The closure also affects anyone who works in Pemberton but lives south of the closure or who relies on services in Whistler. School buses and emergency services are operating on modified routes; check with the local school district and BC Emergency Services for current status.

The Pemberton airport is included in the evacuation order on Airport Road, meaning commercial and private flights into Pemberton are not currently possible.

Context: a repeated pattern

This is the fourth significant storm-related event to hit BC in two weeks. On November 6 and 7, the province's first major fall storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and caused minor flooding. On November 8 and 9, a second storm brought further outages; BC Hydro reported 99 percent of customers restored by November 9. On November 10 and 11, a third wave brought flood watches across the South Coast. The current event, arriving November 12, is the most serious yet in terms of evacuation orders issued.

The BC River Forecast Centre has warned that the province's rivers remain sensitive to further rainfall because soils are saturated after weeks of above-normal precipitation.

When the rain eases

Shull told Daily Hive the current atmospheric river system will continue through Friday evening, November 13, before conditions become mostly dry. A second low-pressure system arrives Saturday, November 14, and will bring significant precipitation into Sunday, November 15. That means river levels, which typically take 12 to 24 hours to respond to heavy rain, may not peak until Friday or Saturday even after the heaviest rain stops Thursday.

The BC River Forecast Centre updates its warnings and watches as conditions change. Anyone in an affected area should check those updates before making travel or shelter decisions.

What residents should do

Residents in Pemberton and the broader SLRD area should monitor the SLRD's emergency pages at slrd.bc.ca for updated evacuation orders and alerts. The SLRD will post changes as they happen. Anyone under an evacuation alert should gather essential documents, prescription medications and an emergency kit now and be prepared to leave immediately if an order is issued.

Residents under the shelter-in-place advisory should not attempt to drive through flooded roads. Even a small amount of moving water can push a vehicle off a road. If road access is cut off, stay in place and wait for conditions to improve or for emergency services to reach you.

River and flood warning updates are posted by the BC River Forecast Centre at bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca. Road closure updates are at DriveBC.ca. Provincial emergency management information, including how to register for emergency support services, is at embc.gov.bc.ca.