Cross Lake 19A faces more hazards than almost every Canadian town
Few towns burn like Cross Lake 19A: 53% of the land within 25 km since 1986, at 1.35% a year. 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. In Health Canada’s survey, 7.9% of homes tested in Cross Lake 19A’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Cross Lake 19A a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Cross Lake 19A’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Cross Lake 19A: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Cross Lake 19A faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Cross Lake 19A: D−
Two inputs always count for Cross Lake 19A, 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.
A very high wildfire band for Cross Lake 19A: 47% within 5 km, 53% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Cross Lake 19A’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Very high: the land around Cross Lake 19A burns at 1.35% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
More forest grows near Cross Lake 19A’s homes (60% within 5 km) than across 25 km (46%).
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; Cross Lake 19A, at 1.35%, ranks 2nd 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.
Very high is the rarest band, 0.2% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Cross Lake 19A is in it.
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 Cross Lake 19A
Flood studies whose area touches Cross Lake 19A, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Cross Lake 19A, 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 Cross Lake 19A has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Cross Lake 19A.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Cross Lake 19A just $0.005 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.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Cross Lake 19A’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Cross Lake 19A ($0.005) matches the middle in Manitoba ($0.006), far from Virden’s $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 Cross Lake 19A.
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 Cross Lake 19A’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).
7.9% of homes tested around Cross Lake 19A are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Cross Lake 19A’s area 7.9%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Manitoba (12%) at 7.9%, the area around Cross Lake 19A still had 0.7% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Cross Lake 19A’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 survey sampled homes around Cross Lake 19A; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Burntwood/Churchill health region
Weather and fire alerts for Cross Lake 19A
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cross Lake 19A; 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 Cross Lake 19A, 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 Cross Lake 19A’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Lake 19A | Very high | $0.005 | 7.9% | None listed |
| Cross Lake 19 1,882 · 5.4 km | Very high | $0.003 | 7.9% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Cross Lake 19A (very high), with Cross Lake 19 next at very high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cross Lake 19A faces
What to do about the hazards Cross Lake 19A 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Cross Lake 19A’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Cross Lake 19A without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Cross Lake 19A’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Cross Lake 19A until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cross Lake 19A
How big is the earthquake risk in Cross Lake 19A?
About $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Cross Lake 19A.
How is Cross Lake 19A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Cross Lake 19A D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Cross Lake 19A?
Around Cross Lake 19A, 152 survey homes were tested and 7.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Cross Lake 19A flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Cross Lake 19A’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Cross Lake 19A at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Cross Lake 19A’s very high band rests on 53% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
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).