Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers O'Leary: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
Fire has left almost no mark near O'Leary: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in O'Leary as in most places, at $0.034 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 3.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). O'Leary grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about O'Leary’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for O'Leary: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What O'Leary faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in O'Leary: A−
Two inputs always count for O'Leary, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #673 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around O'Leary has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around O'Leary’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put O'Leary at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around O'Leary’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 9.3 km out.
37% of the land within 5 km of O'Leary is forest fuel, close to the 39% 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 on Prince Edward Island · highest of 12
Fire is all but absent around the 12 towns on Prince Edward Island, O'Leary included.
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.
O'Leary shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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.
O'Leary is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for O'Leary: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island and others have studied flooding in areas that include O'Leary: 2 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI Pluvial Flood Mapping | Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island | 2024 | final |
| Prince Edward Island Coastal Hazards | Province of PEI, Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
O'Leary is one of the 100% of towns on Prince Edward Island with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
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 O'Leary’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in O'Leary: $0.034 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about O'Leary’s ground: $0.034 against a typical $0.030, 1.1 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
No town on Prince Edward Island expects more earthquake damage than O'Leary ($0.034); the typical one expects $0.020.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 46% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than O'Leary.
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).
The loss is to O'Leary’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 O'Leary: 3.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Fewer homes than usual test high around O'Leary: 3.5% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Prince Edward Island Health Region, O'Leary included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town on Prince Edward Island has 3.5% over 200 Bq/m³; O'Leary’s area has 3.5%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
O'Leary 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.
One home in O'Leary can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for O'Leary
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for O'Leary; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for O'Leary come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around O'Leary
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Leary | Low | $0.034 | 3.5% | Yes |
| O'Leary 1,021 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.039 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Alberton 2,426 · 12 km | Low | $0.032 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Alberton 1,498 · 15 km | Low | $0.034 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Central Prince 1,287 · 19 km | Low | $0.032 | 3.5% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around O'Leary (low), with O'Leary next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what O'Leary faces
What to do about the hazards O'Leary 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 O'Leary.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as O'Leary’s.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for O'Leary is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of O'Leary’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in O'Leary
Is radon a problem in O'Leary?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3.5% of 113 homes tested in O'Leary’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is O'Leary’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
O'Leary’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in O'Leary?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in O'Leary $0.034 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does O'Leary flood?
There is flood mapping for O'Leary on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is O'Leary at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of O'Leary has burned since 1986, the last in 2024, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).