Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Shaking costs buildings in Panorama Ridge $0.47 a year per $1,000 of value, 16 times the typical town’s
Burn scars are few around Panorama Ridge, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.003% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Panorama Ridge a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Panorama Ridge’s hazards
For Panorama Ridge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Panorama Ridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Panorama Ridge: B
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Panorama Ridge with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #59 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,520 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 70 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Panorama Ridge has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Panorama Ridge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Panorama Ridge burns at 0.003% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 8.6 km from Panorama Ridge’s homes, none within 5 km.
The nearer ring around Panorama Ridge is less wooded (5.9% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (11%).
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 tops the 255 towns in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Panorama Ridge, at 0.003%, comes 191st.
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.
Panorama Ridge is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
A flood study covers Panorama Ridge, from City of Surrey: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Panorama Ridge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2015 study by City of Surrey covers Panorama Ridge, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serpentine & Nicomekl River Climate Change Floodplain Review Phase 2 | City of Surrey | 2015 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Panorama Ridge is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Panorama Ridge’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.
High seismic risk in Panorama Ridge: $0.47 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Panorama Ridge loses $0.47, 15.7 times as much.
Panorama Ridge shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Surrey.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.47, Panorama Ridge is above the typical town in British Columbia ($0.36); Duncan has the most at $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.
Panorama Ridge is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 1.6% rank 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Panorama Ridge is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Panorama Ridge: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the Fraser South health region
Panorama Ridge’s survey area reads 0% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%), the area around Panorama Ridge has fewer high tests: 0%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Panorama Ridge; 63% sit 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Panorama Ridge, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Panorama Ridge
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Panorama Ridge; 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. |
For fires near Panorama Ridge, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Panorama Ridge’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panorama Ridge | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Colebrook 3,617 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Sullivan 42,135 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Strawberry Hill 37,037 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | None listed |
| Newton 51,222 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Fleetwood 63,957 · 6.1 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Brownsville 23,515 · 6.7 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
The fire record around Sullivan is a touch heavier than Panorama Ridge’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Panorama Ridge faces
What to do about the hazards Panorama Ridge faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Panorama Ridge.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Panorama Ridge is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Panorama Ridge.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Panorama Ridge’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Panorama Ridge
How is Panorama Ridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Panorama Ridge’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Panorama Ridge?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Panorama Ridge’s buildings lose $0.47 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Panorama Ridge at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Panorama Ridge since 1986 (last in 2022); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Panorama Ridge flood?
There is flood mapping for Panorama Ridge on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Panorama Ridge?
Around Panorama Ridge, 70 survey homes were tested and 0% 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).