Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazard risk in Flatrock is lower than in 96% of Canadian towns
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Flatrock, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.009 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is lower than usual: 4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Flatrock a grade of A+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Flatrock’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Flatrock: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Flatrock faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Flatrock grades A+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Flatrock’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 Flatrock: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Flatrock’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Flatrock each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Forest crowds in on Flatrock: 81% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 64% 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
Near-zero burning puts Flatrock with 8 of the 33 towns in Newfoundland and Labrador, far below Labrador City at 0.43%.
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 Flatrock 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 Flatrock
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Flatrock: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Flatrock, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Flatrock has no study, where 59% of towns in Newfoundland and Labrador have one against 58% nationally.
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 Flatrock’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.”
Low seismic risk in Flatrock: $0.009 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Flatrock’s $0.009 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.3 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Flatrock at $0.009 beside a median in Newfoundland and Labrador of $0.011, with Holyrood on top 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (86%) face more earthquake damage than Flatrock.
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 Flatrock’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).
Little radon around Flatrock: 4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Flatrock’s area has fewer, 4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Flatrock’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.
Flatrock is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Flatrock can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority)
Weather and fire alerts for Flatrock
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Flatrock; 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 Flatrock, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Flatrock
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flatrock | Low | $0.009 | 4% | None listed |
| Pouch Cove 2,270 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.010 | 4% | None listed |
| Torbay 8,297 · 6.6 km | Low | $0.011 | 4% | Yes |
| Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove 2,601 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 4% | Yes |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 9,167 · 15 km | Low | $0.013 | 4% | Yes |
| St. John's 128,693 · 18 km | Low | $0.011 | 4% | Yes |
| Wabana 2,008 · 19 km | Low | $0.011 | 4% | None listed |
The fire record around Wabana is a touch heavier than Flatrock’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 Flatrock faces
What to do about the hazards Flatrock 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. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Flatrock floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Flatrock’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Flatrock sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Flatrock’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Flatrock
How is Flatrock’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Flatrock’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Flatrock?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Flatrock’s buildings lose $0.009 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Flatrock at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Flatrock (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Does Flatrock flood?
Nothing is listed for Flatrock on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Flatrock?
In Health Canada’s survey, 4% of 100 homes tested in Flatrock’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).