Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domain17% of homes tested in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area are above the radon guideline
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen: 7.8% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.20% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen as in most places, at $0.040 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen grades C− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area H, 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen grades C− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Electoral Area H, 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.
Fire reaches the land around Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen: 1.7% within 5 km, 7.8% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Moderate: the land around Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen burns at 0.20% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen: 63% within 5 km and 67% 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen ranks 36th of the 256 towns in British Columbia for burn rate, at 0.20% 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.
Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% rank higher.
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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
2 studies on the inventory touch Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen, the newest Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy’s from 1995, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Similkameen River at Princeton Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1995 | final |
| Tulameen River Coalmont, Tulameen Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1981 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Electoral Area H, 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.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen between the 1980s and the 1990s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Electoral Area H, 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen: $0.040 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.
Earthquake losses in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen, $0.040 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen, at $0.040, 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.
Middle of the pack: 43% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Electoral Area H, 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 H, 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 H, 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. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Okanagan health region
More homes than usual test high around Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen: 17% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area H, 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.
Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen
Alerts for Electoral Area H, 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area H, 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s.
- 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen sits in.
- 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 H, Okanagan-Similkameen floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen
Does Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
Electoral Area H, 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 radon a problem in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 109 homes tested in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen comes to $0.040 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 7.8% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk grade is C−, 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).