Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainRadon is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s main hazard: 29% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Some 5.8% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay has burned since 1986; at 0.15% a year that is moderate, not high. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.010 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area K, 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 K, Central Kootenay: C+
Seismic risk and radon set Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire reaches the land around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay: 0.3% within 5 km, 5.8% within 25 km
Past fire around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.15% of the land a year, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is denser close to Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay (85% within 5 km) than further out (69% 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 256
The land around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay burns at 0.15% a year, the 45th highest rate of 256 towns in British Columbia; Oliver tops it at 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 K, 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.
Flooding around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Regional District of Central Kootenay
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Regional District of Central Kootenay and others have studied flooding in areas that include Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay: 2 studies, the latest from 2020.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RDCK Floodplain and Steep Creek Study - Burton Creek | Regional District of Central Kootenay | 2020 | final |
| Arrow Reservoir and Kuskanax Creek Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1998 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay 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 around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay 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 K, Central Kootenay.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Electoral Area K, 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.
Little shaking expected in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay: $0.010 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay it is only $0.010, 0.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.010, Electoral Area K, 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 K, Central Kootenay than in 86% 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).
The model counts damage to Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 K, Central Kootenay: 29% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s area, at 29%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 29% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 7.3% over 600, against a median of 1.8% in British Columbia.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area K, 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.
One home in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Kootenay/Boundary health region
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area K, 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 K, Central Kootenay, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay | Moderate | $0.010 | 29% | Yes |
| Nakusp 1,740 · 11 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 29% | Yes |
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s moderate band tops its neighbours; Nakusp is next (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area K, 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 K, Central Kootenay.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Does Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s buildings lose $0.010 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s moderate band (5.8% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
The area’s survey found 29% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay.
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).