Photo: Derek Hatfield from Peterborough, Canada · CC BY 2.0Flood mapping exists for Norwood: 2 on record, latest by Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Norwood, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Norwood sits near the middle: $0.029 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Norwood’s survey area, 8.9% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Norwood a grade of B−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Norwood’s hazards
For Norwood, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Norwood faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Norwood: B−
The grade weighs Norwood’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #654 of 866 in Ontario and #1,597 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.
Little of the land around Norwood has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Norwood’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Norwood burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Forest fuel covers 8.8% of the land close to Norwood and 15% across 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
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); Norwood is with the 638 near zero.
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 Norwood 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.
2 flood studies cover Norwood, the newest from Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Norwood: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Norwood is Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Trent River | Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority | 2024 | final |
| Ouse River | Ontonabee Region Conservation Authority | 1976 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Norwood with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Norwood are spread over time, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Norwood.
Flood mapping is shown for Norwood to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Norwood $0.029 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.029 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Norwood sits right at the typical $0.030.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.029, Norwood is below the typical town in Ontario ($0.043); Alexandria is highest at $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.
Norwood’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 51% 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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Norwood.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Norwood: 8.9% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Peterborough County-City Health Unit
8.9% of tested homes around Norwood were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Norwood than in most towns in Ontario: 8.9% 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Norwood’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Norwood’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 Norwood
Alerts for Norwood 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 Norwood 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 Norwood
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwood | Low | $0.029 | 8.9% | Yes |
| Havelock 5,663 · 11 km | Low | $0.032 | 8.9% | Yes |
| Campbellford 15,103 · 14 km | Low | $0.029 | 6.1% | Yes |
| Douro-Dummer 8,379 · 16 km | Low | $0.030 | 8.9% | Yes |
Norwood’s low band tops its neighbours; Havelock is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Norwood faces
What to do about the hazards Norwood 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Norwood.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Norwood is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Norwood’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 Norwood.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Norwood
How is Norwood’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Norwood grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Norwood flood?
There is flood mapping for Norwood on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is Norwood at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Norwood: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
Is radon a problem in Norwood?
Around Norwood, 112 survey homes were tested and 8.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Norwood?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Norwood’s buildings lose $0.029 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).