Photo: J Hazard · CC BY-SA 3.0High radon around Armstrong: 25% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Fire reaches the land around Armstrong now and then: 2.9% within 25 km since 1986 (0.08% a year), below the high band. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Armstrong a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Armstrong’s hazards
For Armstrong, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Armstrong faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Armstrong: B
Two inputs always count for Armstrong, 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
A moderate wildfire record for Armstrong: 2.9% within 25 km burned, 1.4% within 5 km
Past fire around Armstrong’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Moderate: the land around Armstrong burns at 0.08% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is scarce around Armstrong: 0% of the land within 5 km, 0.5% 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 Manitoba · highest of 190
Flin Flon (Part) burns fastest in Manitoba at 1.68% a year; Armstrong, at 0.08%, ranks 17th of 190.
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.
Armstrong 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Armstrong
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Armstrong: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Armstrong, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and Armstrong has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Armstrong’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Little shaking expected in Armstrong: $0.005 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Armstrong’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Manitoba: Armstrong’s $0.005 sits by the median of $0.006, while Virden reaches $0.007.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (96%) expects more shaking damage than Armstrong.
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 Armstrong 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).
Test for radon in Armstrong: 25% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Interlake health region: radon tests
Armstrong’s area, at 25%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Manitoba is 12% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around Armstrong has 25%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns (3.1%) share the 20–30% band with Armstrong, and 1.5% sit above it.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Armstrong can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Armstrong
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Armstrong; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Armstrong come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Armstrong’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong | Moderate | $0.005 | 25% | None listed |
| Teulon 1,289 · 19 km | Low | $0.003 | 25% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Armstrong (moderate); Teulon comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Armstrong faces
What to do about the hazards Armstrong 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Armstrong until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Armstrong without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Armstrong’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Armstrong, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Armstrong
Is Armstrong at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.9% of the land around Armstrong since 1986 (last in 2018); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Armstrong flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Armstrong’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Armstrong’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Armstrong B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Armstrong?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Armstrong’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Armstrong?
Around Armstrong, 121 survey homes were tested and 25% 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).