Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap faces more hazards than 97% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 16% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap has burned since 1986 (0.41% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.010 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap is ordinary for Canada: 6.4% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s hazards
For Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap grades D− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #238 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,559 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.
28% of the land near Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s homes has burned since 1986, 16% within 25 km
Past fire around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap burns at 0.41% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest thickens with distance from Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap: 52% of the land within 5 km, 71% 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
In the top quarter in British Columbia: Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap ranks 17th of 255 at 0.41% a year, with Oliver first 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.
Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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 F, Columbia-Shuswap is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship’s in 2025.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuswap Region Floodplain Maps | Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship | 2025 | final |
| Seymour Arm | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1991 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap is among them.
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 F, Columbia-Shuswap 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 F, Columbia-Shuswap.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap.
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 F, Columbia-Shuswap just $0.010 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.010 per $1,000, Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap 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 F, Columbia-Shuswap’s $0.010 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 F, Columbia-Shuswap is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 86% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 F, Columbia-Shuswap 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).
Some radon around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap: 6.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Thompson/Cariboo health region
At 6.4% over the guideline, the area around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap has 6.4%.
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 F, Columbia-Shuswap, 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap; 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 F, Columbia-Shuswap, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’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 F, Columbia-Shuswap | High | $0.010 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Blind Bay 9,984 · 11 km | High | $0.009 | 6.4% | Yes |
Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s high band tops its neighbours; Blind Bay is next (high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap 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 F, Columbia-Shuswap until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap
How is Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap at risk of wildfire?
It is: 16% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap has burned since 1986, the latest in 2025, which puts it in the high band that lowers Risk.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap?
6.4% of the 109 homes Health Canada tested around Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap’s buildings lose $0.010 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).