Hazard risk in Division No. 1, Subdivision M is lower than in 88% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around Division No. 1, Subdivision M, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.005% a year). Earthquake risk in Division No. 1, Subdivision M is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.016 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Division No. 1, Subdivision M grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Division No. 1, Subdivision M: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Division No. 1, Subdivision M faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Division No. 1, Subdivision M grades A for hazard risk
The grade weighs Division No. 1, Subdivision M’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: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Division No. 1, Subdivision M has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s 0.005% is in the low band.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 16 km away.
Forest crowds in on Division No. 1, Subdivision M: 90% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 80% 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 Newfoundland and Labrador · highest of 33
Labrador City tops the 33 towns in Newfoundland and Labrador at 0.43% a year; Division No. 1, Subdivision M, at 0.005%, comes 23rd.
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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Division No. 1, Subdivision M stays low, with 92%.
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.
Division No. 1, Subdivision M is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Department of Environment and Climate Change
Flood studies whose area touches Division No. 1, Subdivision M, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2024 study by Department of Environment and Climate Change covers Division No. 1, Subdivision M, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flood Hazard Mapping for Ferryland, Brigus, Heart’s Delight-Islington, Hant’s Harbour, and Winterton | Department of Environment and Climate Change | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Newfoundland and Labrador reaches 59% of towns, Division No. 1, Subdivision M included, beside 58% across Canada.
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 Division No. 1, Subdivision M’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Division No. 1, Subdivision M: $0.016 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Nothing unusual about Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s ground: $0.016 against a typical $0.030, 0.5 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Division No. 1, Subdivision M has the highest shaking-damage figure in Newfoundland and Labrador, $0.016 a year per $1,000; the median is $0.011.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (71%) face more earthquake damage than Division No. 1, Subdivision M.
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 model counts damage to Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Division No. 1, Subdivision M: 4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s area, at 4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s area, at 4%, is close to the median in Newfoundland and Labrador (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Division No. 1, Subdivision M, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see more.
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.
One home in Division No. 1, Subdivision M can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority
Weather and fire alerts for Division No. 1, Subdivision M
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Division No. 1, Subdivision M; 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 Division No. 1, Subdivision M come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Division No. 1, Subdivision M
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M | Low | $0.016 | 4% | Yes |
| Clarke's Beach 1,555 · 7.1 km | Low | $0.010 | 4% | None listed |
| Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview 1,180 · 14 km | Low | $0.014 | 4% | None listed |
| Whitbourne 1,126 · 14 km | Low | $0.026 | 4% | None listed |
| Bay Roberts 6,407 · 15 km | Low | $0.010 | 4% | Yes |
| Holyrood 2,749 · 16 km | Low | $0.015 | 4% | None listed |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y 1,374 · 18 km | Low | $0.014 | 4% | None listed |
The fire record around Bay Roberts is a touch heavier than Division No. 1, Subdivision M’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 Division No. 1, Subdivision M faces
What to do about the hazards Division No. 1, Subdivision M 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s.
- 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 Division No. 1, Subdivision M.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Division No. 1, Subdivision M takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Division No. 1, Subdivision M
Is Division No. 1, Subdivision M at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around Division No. 1, Subdivision M since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Division No. 1, Subdivision M?
About $0.016 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Division No. 1, Subdivision M.
Is radon a problem in Division No. 1, Subdivision M?
Around Division No. 1, Subdivision M, 100 survey homes were tested and 4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Division No. 1, Subdivision M’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Division No. 1, Subdivision M flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Division No. 1, Subdivision M; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
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).