Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area L, Cariboo faces more hazards than 97% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 17% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area L, Cariboo has burned since 1986 (0.43% a year). For earthquakes Electoral Area L, Cariboo is middling, $0.022 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Electoral Area L, Cariboo is ordinary for Canada: 6.4% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area L, Cariboo a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s hazards
For Electoral Area L, Cariboo, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area L, Cariboo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area L, Cariboo grades D− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #240 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,561 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.
Fire country: 17% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area L, Cariboo has burned since 1986, 1.6% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area L, Cariboo is 0.43%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Electoral Area L, Cariboo: 73% within 5 km, 68% 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 British Columbia · highest of 255
At 0.43% a year, Electoral Area L, Cariboo is near the top in British Columbia: 15th of 255, behind Oliver (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 L, 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.
Electoral Area L, Cariboo is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Fraser Basin Council
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area L, Cariboo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
2 studies on the inventory touch Electoral Area L, Cariboo, the newest Fraser Basin Council’s from 2021, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cariboo Regional District Flood Hazard Assessment | Fraser Basin Council | 2021 | final |
| Thompson River Watershed Base Level Flood Hazard Mapping | Fraser Basin Council | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Electoral Area L, Cariboo with 76% of towns in British Columbia; Canada’s share is 58%.
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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo 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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo: $0.022 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.
At $0.022 per $1,000, Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s $0.022 sits under the median in British Columbia, $0.36, and well under Duncan’s $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.
Electoral Area L, Cariboo sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 61% expect more shaking damage.
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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo 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).
6.4% of homes tested around Electoral Area L, Cariboo are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Thompson/Cariboo health region: radon tests
Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 6.4% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area L, Cariboo (6.4%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around Electoral Area L, Cariboo, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Electoral Area L, Cariboo can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area L, Cariboo
Alerts for Electoral Area L, Cariboo 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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo 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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area L, Cariboo | High | $0.022 | 6.4% | Yes |
| One Hundred Mile House 2,030 · 13 km | High | $0.013 | 6.4% | Yes |
Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s high band tops its neighbours; One Hundred Mile House is next (high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area L, Cariboo faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 L, Cariboo’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area L, 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.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area L, Cariboo 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 Electoral Area L, Cariboo until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area L, Cariboo
Does Electoral Area L, Cariboo flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area L, Cariboo on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area L, Cariboo?
The area’s survey found 6.4% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area L, Cariboo.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area L, Cariboo?
About $0.022 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area L, Cariboo.
Is Electoral Area L, Cariboo at risk of wildfire?
Wildfire is Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s main hazard, band high: 17% of the land within 25 km burned between 1986 and 2025.
How is Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area L, Cariboo’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).