Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Middlesex Centre faces fewer hazards than 92% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Middlesex Centre: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Middlesex Centre, near the typical $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.8% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Middlesex Centre grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Middlesex Centre’s hazards
For Middlesex Centre, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Middlesex Centre faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Middlesex Centre grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Middlesex Centre, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #33 of 866 in Ontario and #285 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Middlesex Centre: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Middlesex Centre’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.000% a year keeps Middlesex Centre in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Middlesex Centre: forest fuel is 0.3% within 5 km and 0.5% 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
Of the 871 towns in Ontario, 638 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Middlesex Centre among them; Sioux Lookout leads at 0.16% a year.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Middlesex Centre is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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 Middlesex Centre, from St. Clair Region Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Middlesex Centre: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Middlesex Centre the inventory points to St. Clair Region Conservation Authority’s 2009 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCRCA Floodplain Estimation Study for Ontario Regulation 171-06 | St. Clair Region Conservation Authority | 2009 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, Middlesex Centre 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 Middlesex Centre 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 Middlesex Centre: $0.018 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Middlesex Centre’s ground: $0.018 against a typical $0.030, 0.6 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Middlesex Centre, at $0.018, is below the median of $0.043.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Earthquakes cost less around Middlesex Centre than in 68% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Middlesex Centre is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
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 Middlesex Centre: 1.8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the Middlesex-London Health Unit
Middlesex Centre’s survey area reads 1.8% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Middlesex Centre’s area, at 1.8%, is below the median in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middlesex Centre 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 low area share in Middlesex Centre doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Middlesex Centre
Alerts for Middlesex Centre 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Middlesex Centre are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Middlesex Centre
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex Centre | Low | $0.018 | 1.8% | Yes |
| River Bend 5,930 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Hyde Park 14,769 · 4.8 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Oakridge 16,247 · 6.2 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Medway 18,922 · 6.6 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Byron 15,277 · 7.2 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Sunningdale 21,645 · 8.3 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
Nowhere around Middlesex Centre burns more: River Bend, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Middlesex Centre faces
What to do about the hazards Middlesex Centre 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. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Middlesex Centre’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Middlesex Centre.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Middlesex Centre, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Middlesex Centre is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Middlesex Centre
How big is the earthquake risk in Middlesex Centre?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Middlesex Centre’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Middlesex Centre flood?
There is flood mapping for Middlesex Centre on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Middlesex Centre?
Around Middlesex Centre, 110 survey homes were tested and 1.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Middlesex Centre at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Middlesex Centre (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How is Middlesex Centre’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Middlesex Centre 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).