Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainFew places are as safe from hazards as Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: it beats 89% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Division No. 1, Subdivision Y a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Division No. 1, Subdivision Y faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: A
The grade weighs Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’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.
Few fires near Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: 2.6% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Past fire around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.004% of the land a year around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest fuel is denser close to Division No. 1, Subdivision Y (86% within 5 km) than further out (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 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 Y, at 0.004%, comes 25th.
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.
Some fire is mapped around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% 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.
No flood study is listed for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
59% of towns in Newfoundland and Labrador have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Division No. 1, Subdivision Y is not yet one of them.
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 Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’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.”
Little shaking expected in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y: $0.014 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.5 times the typical $0.030: Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s $0.014 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.014, Division No. 1, Subdivision Y is above the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador ($0.011); Holyrood has the most at $0.015.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 73% of its 2,611 towns sit above Division No. 1, Subdivision Y.
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 Y’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).
4% of homes tested around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s area has fewer, 4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y is ordinary for towns in Newfoundland and Labrador: 4%, beside a median of 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 Y, 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Division No. 1, Subdivision Y; 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 Y 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 Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y | Low | $0.014 | 4% | None listed |
| Whitbourne 1,126 · 9.2 km | Low | $0.026 | 4% | None listed |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision E 2,978 · 14 km | Low | $0.014 | 4% | Yes |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M 1,270 · 18 km | Low | $0.016 | 4% | Yes |
The fire record around Division No. 1, Subdivision E is a touch heavier than Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’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 Y faces
What to do about the hazards Division No. 1, Subdivision Y 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Y takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Y.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y
Does Division No. 1, Subdivision Y flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Division No. 1, Subdivision Y at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y since 1986 (last in 1999); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y?
Around Division No. 1, Subdivision Y, 100 survey homes were tested and 4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Division No. 1, Subdivision Y $0.014 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Division No. 1, Subdivision Y’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Division No. 1, Subdivision Y A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).