Entire village and surrounding valley told to prepare to leave; evacuation orders cover Airport Road and part of Líl̓wat Nation
PEMBERTON, B.C. – NNL National News – Residents across Pemberton and the surrounding valley were told early Thursday to be ready to leave as floodwaters threatened homes, roads and access to the community.
The Village of Pemberton placed the entire community under an evacuation alert at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District expanded its alert at the same time to all properties in the Pemberton Valley portion of Electoral Area C.
Officials advised residents who could safely remain where they were to shelter in place and avoid non-essential travel. They warned Pemberton Creek could overflow near One Mile Lake and cover Highway 99, potentially cutting the route south toward Whistler with little notice.
Orders already in place
The broader alerts followed evacuation orders Wednesday for properties along Airport Road in Pemberton and for the Kwetsa7 area along the Lillooet River to Lillooet Lake. Líl̓wat Nation directed people in its order area to leave immediately and go to the Úll̓us Community Complex in Mount Currie for registration and support.
A flood warning remained in effect for the Pemberton Valley, the Kingcome River and parts of the South Coast, including Howe Sound, the Sea-to-Sky corridor and the North Shore mountains. A flood warning means rivers have exceeded their banks or are expected to do so soon.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said heavy rain in Whistler and Pemberton would continue into Thursday morning. Its Wednesday afternoon warning forecast 50 to 100 millimetres during the multi-day event near Whistler, with lower but still significant totals around Pemberton.
The weather agency recorded 279 millimetres at Port Mellon, 217 millimetres at Kennedy Lake and 102 millimetres in Whistler’s Callaghan Valley by 5 p.m. Wednesday. It cautioned that steep slopes, deforested areas and recent burn scars could be vulnerable to landslides.
Storm damage extends beyond flood zone
The same run of storms has damaged power systems across British Columbia. BC Hydro said Wednesday that about 490,000 customers had experienced outages since the first storm arrived Friday. More than 180 workers were involved in repairs in the Central Interior, where crews were replacing poles, crossarms and hundreds of spans of wire.
The utility’s outage notice said Thursday that Zeballos remained without power because poor weather had prevented helicopter access needed for repairs. Restoration work in northern and central Interior communities was also continuing.
The rainfall was forecast to ease Thursday morning, but emergency orders and alerts stay in force until local authorities lift them. Residents in affected areas should use official local alerts and DriveBC for current instructions rather than relying on older road or evacuation information.
SOURCE NOTES
- EmergencyInfoBC: entire Village of Pemberton evacuation alert — updated Nov. 12, 2026, 12:01 a.m. PST.
- EmergencyInfoBC: expanded Pemberton Valley evacuation alert — updated Nov. 12, 2026, 12:01 a.m. PST.
- EmergencyInfoBC: Líl̓wat Nation evacuation order — updated Nov. 11, 2026, 4 p.m. PST.
- Environment Canada: B.C. weather summary — issued Nov. 11, 2026, 6:53 p.m. PST.
- BC Hydro: storm restoration update — published Nov. 11, 2026.
