Water levels began to recede in southwestern B.C. early Tuesday, but an evacuation order remained in place for residents of about 200 homes in Chilliwack and about 10 homes in Hope.

The forecast called for more showers on Tuesday. Parts of the eastern Fraser Valley were hit by 300 millimetres of rain in the last few days that caused the Chilliwack River to overflow.

Residents in Maple Ridge, a community of 70,000 about 45 kilometres east of Vancouver, and Hope, a community of about 7,000 about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, were also put on evacuation alert because of the heavy rain.

Chilliwack, a city of about 76,000 about 100 kilometres east of Vancouver, was the hardest hit by the near record rainfall.

Officials said Monday that the water level of the Chilliwack River had subsided by one metre, which meant works crews could go home for the night.

Meanwhile, a mudslide near Hope, at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley, has closed Highway 3 to the B.C. Interior, and officials said late Monday that the highway will likely remain closed for the next two days. It was closed early Tuesday in both directions. Crews will clean up when the area has been declared safe.

The weather system that dumped heavy rain on the south coast of B.C. headed south to Washington State, where rainfall there caused a large mudslide northeast of Seattle. The mudslide closed the eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 2.

Environment Canada meteorologist Gary Dickenson said there will be a break in the weather this week, but it is not expected to last.

Tuesday's forecast calls for rain to ease near Vancouver for a few days, but more rain is expected in the eastern Fraser Valley.

"There's another big system that's going to be making its way to the coast on Friday. We should be looking at some moderate to heavy rainfall and some blustery winds pretty much all day."

In Agassiz, about 115 kilometres east of Vancouver, about 179 millimetres of rain fell in just one day, an amount that exceeds by more than 30 millimetres a record set three years ago.

Mayor Lorne Fisher said Monday there was some flooding on downtown streets, but drought-like conditions this past fall lessened the impact of the heavy rain.

"I've been out and around the series of drainage ditches we have throughout the agricultural land, and the buildup of water wasn't as much as I had expected," said Fisher.