Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is higher than in almost every Canadian town
With 0.87% of the land around it burning each year, Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen sits in the high wildfire band (33% within 25 km since 1986). For earthquakes Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is middling, $0.021 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. More homes than usual carry radon here, 17% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen 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 C, Okanagan-Similkameen: D−
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #252 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,580 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
30% of the land near Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes has burned since 1986, 33% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is 0.87%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
There is forest near Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes (23% within 5 km) and more of it further out (44% 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
Oliver burns fastest in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen, at 0.87%, ranks 3rd of 255.
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, Okanagan-Similkameen 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.
A flood study covers Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen, from Okanagan Basin Water Board: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen the inventory points to Okanagan Basin Water Board’s 2020 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is one of the 76% of towns in British Columbia with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen floods.
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, Okanagan-Similkameen: $0.021 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 C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.021 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen expects less, $0.021, and Duncan the most, $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 C, Okanagan-Similkameen sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 63% expect more shaking damage.
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 loss is to Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 C, Okanagan-Similkameen: 17% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s survey area reads 17% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Okanagan health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen than in most towns in British Columbia: 17% over the guideline (1.8% is typical), 2.8% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen
Alerts for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen | High | $0.021 | 17% | Yes |
| Oliver 5,262 · 3.6 km | High | $0.028 | 17% | Yes |
| Osoyoos 1 1,484 · 6.2 km | High | $0.022 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen 1,190 · 15 km | Very high | $0.024 | 17% | Yes |
| Okanagan Falls 4,002 · 16 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,372 · 19 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
Next door, Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen sits in a very high fire band; Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’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. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen
Does Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
Wildfire is Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s main hazard, band high: 33% of the land within 25 km burned between 1986 and 2025.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen?
About $0.021 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen?
The area’s survey found 17% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen.
How is Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).