Somerset is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Fire seldom reaches Somerset: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Somerset as in most places, at $0.023 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Somerset’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Somerset a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Somerset’s hazards
For Somerset, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Somerset faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Somerset: B+
The grade weighs Somerset’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #282 of 474 in Alberta and #1,102 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Somerset: 0.1% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Somerset’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Somerset at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
With 1.8% forest fuel within 5 km and 2.4% within 25 km, the land around Somerset gives a fire little to burn.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in Alberta · highest of 478
Of the 478 towns in Alberta, 386 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Somerset among them; Wainwright leads at 1.43% a year.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Somerset is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 7.5% rank higher.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
A flood study covers Somerset, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Somerset: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Somerset the inventory points to Government of Alberta’s 2025 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Creek Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Somerset has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Somerset to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Ordinary seismic risk in Somerset: $0.023 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.8 times the typical $0.030: Somerset’s $0.023 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Somerset, at $0.023, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Somerset’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 54% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
For Somerset the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Calgary
Some radon around Somerset: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
8.1% of tested homes around Somerset were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Somerset is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 8.1%, beside a median of 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Somerset’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Somerset’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Somerset
Alerts for Somerset come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
Fire danger and active fires near Somerset are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Somerset’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Shawnessy 9,696 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Bridlewood 12,547 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Silverado 9,663 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Millrise 6,754 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Midnapore 7,022 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Fish Creek Park 9,045 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
Bridlewood burns a little more than Somerset, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Somerset faces
What to do about the hazards Somerset faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Somerset, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Somerset’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Somerset without grading them.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Somerset until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Somerset
Does Somerset flood?
A flood study covers Somerset on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is Somerset’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Somerset grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Somerset at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Somerset has burned since 1986, the last in 2014, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Somerset?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Somerset $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Somerset?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Somerset’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).