Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn hazards, Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen comes out behind almost every Canadian town
At 1.21% of the land burned each year (46% within 25 km since 1986), Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen is in the very high wildfire band. Seismic risk in Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen sits near the middle: $0.024 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 17% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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 very high wildfire band for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen: 23% within 5 km, 46% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 1.21% of the land a year, Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s burn rate is very high, far beyond the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The nearer ring around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen is less wooded (22% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (28%).
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
Of the 256 towns in British Columbia, the land around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen burns fastest, 1.21% a year against 0.98% for Oliver.
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.
Very high is the rarest band, 0.2% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen is in it.
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.
A flood study covers Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy’s from 1995, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Similkameen River at Keremeos Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1995 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen.
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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen: $0.024 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.
Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.024 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.8 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, at $0.024, 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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 54% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen.
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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen’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).
Test for radon in Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Okanagan health region
At 17% over the guideline, the area around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, 17% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 2.8% 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen among them; 4.6% 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen; 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen, 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen | Very high | $0.024 | 17% | Yes |
| Keremeos 1,779 · 8.3 km | High | $0.049 | 17% | Yes |
| Oliver 5,262 · 13 km | High | $0.028 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen 4,103 · 15 km | High | $0.021 | 17% | Yes |
| Osoyoos 1 1,484 · 17 km | High | $0.022 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,402 · 18 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen (very high), with Oliver next at high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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. 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen
Does Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s very high band rests on 46% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How is Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− 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 B, Okanagan-Similkameen?
About $0.024 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen?
Around Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen, 109 survey homes were tested and 17% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).