Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainAround Southampton, 17% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Southampton, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Southampton as in most places, at $0.039 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Southampton a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Southampton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Southampton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Southampton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Southampton: C−
The grade weighs Southampton’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Few fires near Southampton: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Southampton’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Southampton is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Southampton’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 21 km away.
80% of the land within 5 km of Southampton is forest fuel, close to the 79% 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 New Brunswick · highest of 61
Little or nothing burns around Southampton in a typical year; 16 of the 61 towns in New Brunswick share that, and Tracadie leads at 0.28%.
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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Southampton sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above 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 Southampton
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Southampton: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Southampton, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Southampton has no flood study on file, though 93% of towns in New Brunswick do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Southampton to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Southampton: $0.039 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
1.3 times the typical $0.030: Southampton’s $0.039 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in New Brunswick: Southampton’s $0.039 sits by the median of $0.036, while St. Stephen reaches $0.16.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Southampton (45%).
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Southampton’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 Southampton: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Region 3 health region: radon tests
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Southampton’s area has 17%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Southampton, 17% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in New Brunswick (20%); 7.1% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Southampton, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 Southampton; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Southampton
Alerts for Southampton 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. |
Evacuation orders for Southampton come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Southampton’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton | Low | $0.039 | 17% | None listed |
| Nackawic 1,019 · 7.6 km | Low | $0.028 | 17% | None listed |
| Northampton 1,981 · 18 km | Low | $0.039 | 17% | None listed |
Southampton’s low band tops its neighbours; Nackawic is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Southampton faces
What to do about the hazards Southampton 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.
- 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Southampton without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Southampton’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Southampton until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Southampton’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Southampton
How is Southampton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Southampton C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Southampton at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Southampton has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Southampton?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Southampton $0.039 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Southampton?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 112 homes tested in Southampton’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Southampton flood?
Nothing is listed for Southampton on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).