Photo: J. S. (Steve) Bond · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Morris-Turnberry: 1 on record, latest by Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Morris-Turnberry, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.015 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is higher than usual: 11% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Morris-Turnberry a grade of B, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Morris-Turnberry’s hazards
For Morris-Turnberry, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Morris-Turnberry faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Morris-Turnberry: B
Seismic risk and radon set Morris-Turnberry’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #632 of 866 in Ontario and #1,463 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.
Few fires near Morris-Turnberry: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Morris-Turnberry’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Morris-Turnberry burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Forest fuel is scarce around Morris-Turnberry: 1.8% of the land within 5 km, 1.7% 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 Morris-Turnberry 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Morris-Turnberry 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 Morris-Turnberry, from Maitland Valley Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Morris-Turnberry: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Maitland Valley Conservation Authority studied flooding in an area that includes Morris-Turnberry (2026); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wingham Floodplain Mapping Update - Howson Dam Removal | Maitland Valley Conservation Authority | 2026 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Morris-Turnberry has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Morris-Turnberry.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Morris-Turnberry just $0.015 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Morris-Turnberry it is only $0.015, 0.5 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Morris-Turnberry expects less, $0.015, 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.
Morris-Turnberry is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 72% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Morris-Turnberry 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).
Radon runs high around Morris-Turnberry: 11% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Huron County Health Unit: radon tests
A higher share than most: 11% of tested homes around Morris-Turnberry, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Morris-Turnberry than in most towns in Ontario: 11% over the guideline (4% is typical), 0.9% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Morris-Turnberry, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Whatever Morris-Turnberry’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Morris-Turnberry
Alerts for Morris-Turnberry 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 Morris-Turnberry 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)
How Morris-Turnberry’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
Wingham (low) has the heaviest fire record of Morris-Turnberry’s neighbours, and Morris-Turnberry (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Morris-Turnberry faces
Practical steps for Morris-Turnberry’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- 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 Morris-Turnberry sits in.
- 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 Morris-Turnberry floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Morris-Turnberry’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 Morris-Turnberry.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Morris-Turnberry
Is Morris-Turnberry at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Morris-Turnberry’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Morris-Turnberry?
The area’s survey found 11% of 106 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Morris-Turnberry.
How big is the earthquake risk in Morris-Turnberry?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Morris-Turnberry’s buildings lose $0.015 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Morris-Turnberry’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Morris-Turnberry grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Morris-Turnberry flood?
Morris-Turnberry’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).