Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn hazards, Electoral Area E, Cariboo comes out behind 96% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Electoral Area E, Cariboo: 13% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.37% a year, in the high band. For earthquakes Electoral Area E, Cariboo is middling, $0.016 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Electoral Area E, Cariboo is ordinary for Canada: 6.4% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area E, Cariboo a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s hazards
For Electoral Area E, Cariboo, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area E, Cariboo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Electoral Area E, Cariboo: D−
Two inputs always count for Electoral Area E, Cariboo, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #235 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,555 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.
2.3% of the land near Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s homes has burned since 1986, 13% within 25 km
Past fire around Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area E, Cariboo is 0.37%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
About as much forest grows next to Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s homes (67% within 5 km) as across 25 km (65%).
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 British Columbia · highest of 255
Electoral Area E, Cariboo ranks 20th of the 255 towns in British Columbia for burn rate, at 0.37% a year; Oliver leads with 0.98%.
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.
Just 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough for the high band where Electoral Area E, Cariboo sits; 0.2% 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.
Flooding around Electoral Area E, Cariboo is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Fraser Basin Council
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area E, Cariboo: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Fraser Basin Council and others have studied flooding in areas that include Electoral Area E, Cariboo: 2 studies, the latest from 2021.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cariboo Regional District Flood Hazard Assessment | Fraser Basin Council | 2021 | final |
| Williams Lake Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1990 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Electoral Area E, Cariboo has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping around Electoral Area E, Cariboo has come in steps: 2 studies from the 1990s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area E, Cariboo.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s homes are at risk.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Electoral Area E, Cariboo: $0.016 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s $0.016 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.5 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s $0.016 against a median of $0.36; Duncan has $1.33.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 71% of its 2,611 towns sit above Electoral Area E, Cariboo.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Electoral Area E, Cariboo is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Electoral Area E, Cariboo: 6.4% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
6.4% of tested homes around Electoral Area E, Cariboo were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Thompson/Cariboo health region, Electoral Area E, Cariboo included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s area, at 6.4%, is above the median in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area E, Cariboo is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 Electoral Area E, Cariboo 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).
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area E, Cariboo
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area E, Cariboo; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Electoral Area E, Cariboo come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Electoral Area E, Cariboo’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area E, Cariboo | High | $0.016 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Williams Lake 11,462 · 6.8 km | High | $0.011 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Electoral Area D, Cariboo 3,057 · 13 km | High | $0.011 | 6.4% | Yes |
Williams Lake burns a little more than Electoral Area E, Cariboo, in the same high band (high here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area E, Cariboo faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area E, Cariboo faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- 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 Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Electoral Area E, Cariboo until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area E, Cariboo without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area E, Cariboo, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area E, Cariboo
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area E, Cariboo?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s buildings lose $0.016 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Electoral Area E, Cariboo flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area E, Cariboo on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Electoral Area E, Cariboo at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Electoral Area E, Cariboo’s high band rests on 13% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area E, Cariboo?
Around Electoral Area E, Cariboo, 109 survey homes were tested and 6.4% 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).