Photo: Odysseus1479 · CC BY-SA 3.0Central McDougall faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Central McDougall, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Central McDougall grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Central McDougall’s hazards
For Central McDougall, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Central McDougall faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Central McDougall: A+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Central McDougall with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 73 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Central McDougall: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Central McDougall’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Central McDougall burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Little near Central McDougall’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.2% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.3% within 25 km.
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
Among the 478 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); Central McDougall is with the 386 near zero.
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.
Central McDougall shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Central McDougall, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Central McDougall, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Government of Alberta studied flooding in an area that includes Central McDougall (2024); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Central McDougall is one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Central McDougall floods.
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.
Low seismic risk in Central McDougall: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Central McDougall’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Central McDougall doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Edmonton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Central McDougall runs at $0.013 a year, near the $0.013 of the typical town in Alberta; Black Diamond has $0.048.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (75%) face more earthquake damage than Central McDougall.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Central McDougall.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Central McDougall: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Central McDougall’s area, at 1.4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Central McDougall’s area, at 1.4%, is below the median in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Central McDougall; 63% sit higher.
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.
A low area share in Central McDougall doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Capital Health
Where to get warnings in Central McDougall
Alerts for Central McDougall 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Central McDougall to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Central McDougall’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central McDougall | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Queen Mary Park 7,958 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| McCauley 4,060 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Downtown 12,880 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Boyle Street 5,862 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Wîhkwêntôwin 19,050 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Alberta Avenue 6,097 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Central McDougall’s low band tops its neighbours; Queen Mary Park is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Central McDougall faces
What to do about the hazards Central McDougall 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Central McDougall’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Central McDougall.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Central McDougall, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Central McDougall takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Central McDougall
How big is the earthquake risk in Central McDougall?
Expected earthquake damage in Central McDougall comes to $0.013 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Central McDougall at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Central McDougall (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How is Central McDougall’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Central McDougall’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Central McDougall flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Central McDougall; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is radon a problem in Central McDougall?
Around Central McDougall, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).