Photo: Alain Hardy · CC BY 3.0Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 10% of area homes over the radon guideline
Burn scars are few around Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.002% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.076 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s hazards
For Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard grades C for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #241 of 507 in Quebec and #2,190 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 78 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard: 0.2% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.002% of the land near Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
There is forest near Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s homes (20% within 5 km) and more of it further out (32% 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 in Quebec · highest of 513
The land around Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard 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.
Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
No flood study is listed for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard is not among them.
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 Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.
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 Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s costliest hazard: $0.076 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.
Roughly 2.5 times the typical $0.030: Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s $0.076 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Quebec: Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s $0.076 against a median of $0.14; La Pocatière has $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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 28% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.
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).
For Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard: 10% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Laurentides health region
More homes than usual test high around Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard: 10% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, 10% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1.3% over 600, against a median of 8.2% in Quebec.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard; 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 Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard | Low | $0.076 | 10% | None listed |
| Wentworth-Nord 1,805 · 12 km | Low | $0.089 | 10% | None listed |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts 12,154 · 12 km | Low | $0.074 | 10% | Yes |
| Morin-Heights 5,086 · 12 km | Low | $0.069 | 10% | None listed |
| Val-Morin 3,226 · 13 km | Low | $0.076 | 10% | None listed |
| Val-David 5,920 · 14 km | Low | $0.066 | 10% | Yes |
| Saint-Sauveur 12,112 · 16 km | Low | $0.094 | 10% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Wentworth-Nord (low), still no more than Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard faces
Practical steps for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard
How is Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s Hazard risk grade is C, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard?
The area’s survey found 10% of 78 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard?
About $0.076 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard.
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).