Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHigh radon around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay: 19% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay: 8.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.21% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Seismic risk runs low: $0.008 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay 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 A, Central Kootenay: B−
Seismic risk and radon set Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #99 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,582 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay: 8.4% within 25 km burned, 1.6% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Moderate: the land around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay burns at 0.21% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The ring nearest Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay is the most wooded: 72% forest fuel within 5 km against 62% 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 0.21% a year, Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay is near the top in British Columbia: 33rd 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.
Moderate puts Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
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.
2 flood studies cover Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, the newest from Regional District of Central Kootenay
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Regional District of Central Kootenay’s in 2020.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crawford Creek | Regional District of Central Kootenay | 2020 | final |
| Kootenay River (Kootenay Lake to U.S. Border) Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1981 | 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 A, Central Kootenay 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 A, Central Kootenay has come in steps: 2 studies from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay just $0.008 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.008 per $1,000, Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay carries 0.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s $0.008 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 87% of its 2,611 towns sit above Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay.
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 Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’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).
Radon runs high around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay: 19% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the East Kootenay health region
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s area, at 19%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay (19%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 2.9% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay 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 Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay; 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. |
For fires near Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay?
About $0.008 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay.
Is Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s band is moderate, with 8.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay?
19% of the 105 homes Health Canada tested around Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay flood?
Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).