Flood mapping exists for Huron South: 1 on record, latest by Grand River Conservation Authority
Around Huron South, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.022 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Huron South, near the typical $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Huron South grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Huron South’s hazards
For Huron South, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Huron South faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Huron South: A−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Huron South with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #237 of 866 in Ontario and #594 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Huron South: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Huron South’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Huron South burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Little near Huron South’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 2.2% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 3% 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 Ontario · highest of 871
Little or nothing burns around Huron South in a typical year; 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario share that, and Sioux Lookout leads at 0.16%.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Huron South is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
A flood study covers Huron South, from Grand River Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Huron South, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Grand River Conservation Authority studied flooding in an area that includes Huron South (2018); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Regulatory Floodplain | Grand River Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, Huron South 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Huron South floods.
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 Huron South: $0.022 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 Huron South’s ground: $0.022 against a typical $0.030, 0.7 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Huron South expects less, $0.022, and Alexandria the most, $0.21.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 61% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Huron South.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Huron South.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk: the city of Kitchener
Radon runs low around Huron South: 4% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Huron South’s area has fewer, 4%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Waterloo Health Unit, Huron South included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Ontario has 4% over 200 Bq/m³; Huron South’s area has 4%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Huron South 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Huron South, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Huron South
Alerts for Huron South 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Huron South to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Huron South
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huron South | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Rosenberg 9,831 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Pioneer Park 8,781 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Doon South 15,044 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Country Hills West 5,936 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Country Hills 4,561 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Trillium Industrial Park 3,420 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Huron South has the most fire on record (low); Rosenberg follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Huron South faces
What to do about the hazards Huron South 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
- 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 Huron South floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Huron South’s included.
- 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 Huron South.
- 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 Huron South sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Huron South
How big is the earthquake risk in Huron South?
About $0.022 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Huron South.
How is Huron South’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Huron South grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Huron South at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Huron South (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Does Huron South flood?
Huron South’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Huron South?
Around Huron South, 101 survey homes were tested and 4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).