Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Souris: it beats 89% of Canadian towns
For Souris, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in Souris is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.017 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 3.5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Souris grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Souris’s hazards
For Souris, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Souris faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Souris: A
The grade weighs Souris’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Little of the land around Souris has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Souris’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Souris burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
There is forest near Souris’ homes (37% within 5 km) and more of it further out (50% 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 13
None of the 13 towns on Prince Edward Island has a burn rate above zero to three decimals; Souris is no exception.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Souris is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 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.
Souris is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
Flood studies whose area touches Souris, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Souris is Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| 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
Souris 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Souris 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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Souris $0.017 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Souris’ $0.017 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Souris’ $0.017 is close to the median on Prince Edward Island, $0.020; O'Leary is highest at $0.034.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 70% of its 2,611 towns sit above Souris.
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 Souris 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 Souris: 3.5% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the Prince Edward Island Health Region
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Souris’ area has fewer, 3.5%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Souris is ordinary for towns on Prince Edward Island: 3.5%, beside a median of 3.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Souris 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.
Whatever Souris’ 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 Souris
Alerts for Souris 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. |
Evacuation orders for Souris come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Souris
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Souris | Low | $0.017 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Souris 1,285 · 9.6 km | Low | $0.012 | 3.5% | Yes |
Nowhere around Souris burns more: Souris, 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 Souris faces
What to do about the hazards Souris 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Souris, 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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Souris until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Souris’ census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Souris without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Souris
Is Souris at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Souris: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Souris?
Expected earthquake damage in Souris comes to $0.017 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Souris flood?
A flood study covers Souris on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Souris?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3.5% of 113 homes tested in Souris’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Souris’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Souris grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).