Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHigh radon around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay: 29% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Some 3.2% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay has burned since 1986; at 0.08% a year that is moderate, not high. Seismic risk runs low: $0.008 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s hazards
For Electoral Area I, 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 I, 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 I, Central Kootenay: C+
Seismic risk and radon set Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #201 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,837 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Some fire around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay: 3.2% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.08% of the land a year, Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s homes (78% within 5 km) as across 25 km (74%).
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 0.08% a year, Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is near the top in British Columbia: 57th 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 I, 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 I, Central Kootenay, the newest from Regional District of Central Kootenay
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Electoral Area I, 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, Slocan River | Regional District of Central Kootenay | 2020 | final |
| Slocan River Floodplain Mapping (including Little Slocan River and Lemon Creek) | 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 I, 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 I, Central Kootenay between the 1990s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’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.
Little shaking expected in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay: $0.008 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.008 per $1,000, Electoral Area I, 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
At $0.008, Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is below the typical town in British Columbia ($0.36); Duncan is highest at $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.
Earthquakes cost less around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay than in 87% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay.
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 I, Central Kootenay: 29% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Kootenay/Boundary health region
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s area, at 29%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay (29%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 7.3% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is in the 20–30% band, which holds only 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 1.5% are 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.
Neighbouring homes in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay 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 I, Central Kootenay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area I, 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’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 I, Central Kootenay | Moderate | $0.008 | 29% | Yes |
| Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay 3,915 · 12 km | Moderate | $0.008 | 29% | Yes |
| Castlegar 9,465 · 13 km | Low | $0.008 | 29% | None listed |
The fire record around Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay is a touch heavier than Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s, but the band is the same: moderate (here moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area I, 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 I, Central Kootenay.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay
Is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s band is moderate, with 3.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay?
29% of the 109 homes Health Canada tested around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay $0.008 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).