Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHigh radon around Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay: 19% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Fire reaches the land around Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay now and then: 7.1% within 25 km since 1986 (0.18% a year), below the high band. NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay a grade of C; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s hazards
For Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay grades C for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
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.
Some fire around Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay: 7.1% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.18% of the land a year, Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Within 5 km of Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, 50% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 63%.
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 256
At 0.18% a year, Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay is near the top in British Columbia: 39th of 256, 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.
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% rank higher.
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 C, Central Kootenay is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Regional District of Central Kootenay
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Regional District of Central Kootenay’s in 2020.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RDCK Floodplain and Steep Creek Study Goat River | 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 C, 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.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay between the 1980s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay.
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 C, Central Kootenay: $0.023 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
With $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, at $0.023, is below the median of $0.36.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay (54%).
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 C, Central Kootenay 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).
Test for radon in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay: 19% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A higher share than most: 19% of tested homes around Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area C, 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 C, 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the East Kootenay health region)
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area C, 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 C, 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)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay | Moderate | $0.023 | 19% | Yes |
| Creston 5,976 · 2.9 km | Moderate | $0.008 | 19% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay 5,243 · 5.7 km | Moderate | $0.013 | 19% | Yes |
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s moderate band tops its neighbours; Creston is next (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area C, 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
- 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 C, Central Kootenay until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
Is Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s moderate band (7.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How is Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay grades C for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay 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 C, Central Kootenay?
The area’s survey found 19% of 105 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay comes to $0.023 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).