Few places are as safe from hazards as Rapperswill: it beats 98% of Canadian towns
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Rapperswill: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Rapperswill a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Rapperswill’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Rapperswill: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Rapperswill faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Rapperswill grades A+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Rapperswill, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 73 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Rapperswill: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Rapperswill’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Rapperswill fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Around Rapperswill the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0.3% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Rapperswill is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 1.43%.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Rapperswill is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Rapperswill
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Rapperswill: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Rapperswill, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Rapperswill.
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 Rapperswill 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.”
Little shaking expected in Rapperswill: $0.013 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Rapperswill’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Rapperswill 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 Rapperswill 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.
75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Rapperswill.
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).
The loss is to Rapperswill’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
1.4% of homes tested around Rapperswill are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Rapperswill’s survey area reads 1.4% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Capital Health, with Rapperswill one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Rapperswill than in most towns in Alberta: 1.4% against 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 Rapperswill; 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 survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Rapperswill can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Rapperswill
Alerts for Rapperswill 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 Rapperswill to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Rapperswill’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapperswill | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Canossa 3,246 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Dunluce 6,079 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Albany 3,015 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Baturyn 4,796 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Oxford 4,460 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Elsinore 5,796 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Rapperswill (low), with Canossa next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Rapperswill faces
What to do about the hazards Rapperswill 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Rapperswill’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Rapperswill until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Rapperswill without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Rapperswill’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Rapperswill
How is Rapperswill’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Rapperswill A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Rapperswill flood?
Nothing is listed for Rapperswill on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Rapperswill?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Rapperswill’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Rapperswill at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Rapperswill’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Rapperswill?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.4% of 73 homes tested in Rapperswill’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).