Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazards in Laurendeau: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.2% of tested homes
Fire seldom reaches Laurendeau: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.002% a year). Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.23 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Laurendeau a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Laurendeau’s hazards
For Laurendeau, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Laurendeau faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Laurendeau grades C− for hazard risk
For Laurendeau, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #383 of 507 in Quebec and #2,362 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.
Wildfire is rare near Laurendeau: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Laurendeau’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.002% of the land a year around Laurendeau, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The 5 km ring around Laurendeau’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 5.4 km out.
Only 0.7% of the land within 25 km of Laurendeau is forest fuel, and 0.4% close in.
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 Quebec · highest of 513
The land around Laurendeau burns at 0.002% a year, the 35th highest rate of 513 towns in Quebec; Mistissini tops it at 0.31%.
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 takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Laurendeau among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Laurendeau
Flood studies whose area touches Laurendeau, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Laurendeau, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Laurendeau; in Quebec, 45% of towns have one, below Canada’s 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 Laurendeau 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.”
Shaking is Laurendeau’s costliest hazard: $0.23 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.
Laurendeau’s $0.23 is about 7.6 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Laurendeau’s $0.23 tops the median in Quebec, $0.14, though La Pocatière reaches $0.48.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Only 6.4% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Laurendeau.
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 Laurendeau 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). · Earthquake risk: the city of Longueuil
8.2% of homes tested around Laurendeau are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Monteregie health region: radon tests
At 8.2% over the guideline, the area around Laurendeau is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Laurendeau’s area, at 8.2%, is close to the median in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Laurendeau, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are 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 Laurendeau, 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 Laurendeau
Alerts for Laurendeau 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 Laurendeau 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 Laurendeau
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurendeau | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Maricourt 14,407 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Iberville 17,988 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Zone Aéroportuaire 3,588 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Nouveau Greenfield Park 6,199 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Bienville 7,888 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Roberval 2,536 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.23 | 8.2% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Laurendeau (low), with Maricourt next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Laurendeau faces
Practical steps for Laurendeau’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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Laurendeau floods.
- 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 Laurendeau.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Laurendeau’s included.
- 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 Laurendeau sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Laurendeau
Is Laurendeau at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Laurendeau’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2024), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Laurendeau?
About $0.23 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Laurendeau.
How is Laurendeau’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Laurendeau C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Laurendeau flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Laurendeau (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Laurendeau?
8.2% of the 110 homes Health Canada tested around Laurendeau topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).