Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainVernon River faces fewer hazards than 87% of Canadian towns
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Vernon River’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Vernon River as in most places, at $0.020 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). Vernon River grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Vernon River’s hazards
For Vernon River, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Vernon River faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Vernon River: A
Two inputs always count for Vernon River, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #4 of 12 on Prince Edward Island and #519 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.
Few fires near Vernon River: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Vernon River’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Vernon River, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Within 5 km of Vernon River, 28% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 38%.
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
None of the 12 towns on Prince Edward Island has a burn rate above zero to three decimals; Vernon River 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.
Vernon River 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.
Vernon River 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 Vernon River, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island and others have studied flooding in areas that include Vernon River: 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
Vernon River 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Vernon River.
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 Vernon River: $0.020 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Vernon River’s $0.020 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town on Prince Edward Island: Vernon River’s $0.020 against $0.020; O'Leary reaches $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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 64% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Vernon River.
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 Vernon River.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Vernon River: 3.5% of tested 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
A lower share than most: 3.5% of tested homes around Vernon River, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Vernon River’s area, at 3.5%, is close to the median on Prince Edward Island (3.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Vernon River; 63% sit higher.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Vernon River, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Vernon River
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Vernon River; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Vernon River, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Vernon River
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon River | Low | $0.020 | 3.5% | Yes |
| East River, Part 1 2,657 · 11 km | Low | $0.020 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Crossroads 2,366 · 11 km | Low | $0.020 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Stratford 13,152 · 16 km | Low | $0.021 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Belfast 2,110 · 17 km | Low | $0.019 | 3.5% | Yes |
| North Shore 1,609 · 18 km | Low | $0.021 | 3.5% | Yes |
Vernon River’s low band tops its neighbours; East River, Part 1 is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Vernon River faces
What to do about the hazards Vernon River 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Vernon River’s included.
- 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 Vernon River.
- 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 Vernon River.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Vernon River is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Vernon River
Is radon a problem in Vernon River?
Around Vernon River, 113 survey homes were tested and 3.5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Vernon River at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Vernon River: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Vernon River?
About $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Vernon River.
How is Vernon River’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Vernon River’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Vernon River flood?
There is flood mapping for Vernon River on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
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).