Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn hazards, Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen comes out behind almost every Canadian town
Wildfire is a real hazard for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen: 29% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.75% a year, in the high band. Earthquake risk in Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.017 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Radon is higher than usual: 17% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area G, 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 G, Okanagan-Similkameen: D−
For Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
19% of the land near Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes has burned since 1986, 29% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen is 0.75%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
46% of the land within 5 km of Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen is forest fuel, close to the 46% 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
Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen ranks 4th of the 256 towns in British Columbia for burn rate, at 0.75% a year; Oliver leads with 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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen among them, with 0.2% higher still.
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.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has mapped flooding for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy studied flooding in an area that includes Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen (1995); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| 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
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 G, Okanagan-Similkameen $0.017 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.017 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.017 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (70%) face more earthquake damage than Electoral Area G, 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 loss is to Electoral Area G, 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).
17% of homes tested around Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Okanagan health region
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area has 17%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen (17%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 2.8% went over 600.
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 G, 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen
Alerts for Electoral Area G, 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Keremeos 1,779 · 11 km | High | $0.049 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen 1,190 · 18 km | Very high | $0.024 | 17% | Yes |
Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen has the most fire around it, a very high band against Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area G, 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area G, 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen
Is Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
It is: 29% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986, the latest in 2025, which puts it in the high band that lowers Risk.
Does Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen?
17% of the 109 homes Health Canada tested around Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen?
About $0.017 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area G, Okanagan-Similkameen.
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).