Photo: Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada · CC BY 2.0High radon around North Norfolk: 43% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Wildfire isn’t North Norfolk’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% 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. North Norfolk grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about North Norfolk’s hazards
For North Norfolk, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What North Norfolk faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Norfolk grades B− for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set North Norfolk’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #158 of 185 in Manitoba and #1,651 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near North Norfolk: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around North Norfolk’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put North Norfolk at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 24 km from North Norfolk’s homes, none within 5 km.
Little near North Norfolk’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0% 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 189
Of the 189 towns in Manitoba, 60 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, North Norfolk among them; Flin Flon (Part) leads at 1.68% a year.
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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around North Norfolk, burning rounds to zero.
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.
No flood study is listed for North Norfolk
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for North Norfolk: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers North Norfolk; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and North Norfolk has none.
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 North Norfolk’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in North Norfolk just $0.005 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in North Norfolk it is only $0.005, 0.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around North Norfolk ($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.
North Norfolk is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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 North Norfolk 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 high around North Norfolk: 43% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Central health region: radon tests
More homes than usual test high around North Norfolk: 43% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around North Norfolk than in most towns in Manitoba: 43% over the guideline (12% is typical), 7.4% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
At least three tests in ten top the guideline around North Norfolk, a level reached by 1.5% of Canada’s towns.
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.
Whatever North Norfolk’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in North Norfolk
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for North Norfolk; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around North Norfolk, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what North Norfolk faces
Practical steps for North Norfolk’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, North Norfolk’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in North Norfolk.
- 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 North Norfolk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, North Norfolk takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Norfolk
How big is the earthquake risk in North Norfolk?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in North Norfolk $0.005 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is North Norfolk at risk of wildfire?
Some, but North Norfolk’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2018) is short of the level that counts.
How is North Norfolk’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives North Norfolk B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does North Norfolk flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for North Norfolk, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in North Norfolk?
The area’s survey found 43% of 108 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in North Norfolk.
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).