Photo: Miguel Tremblay · CC0Hazards in Saint-Côme are mild: low wildfire and earthquake risk, and 3.9% of area homes above the radon guideline
Fire seldom reaches Saint-Côme: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.002% a year). Earthquake risk in Saint-Côme is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.046 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Hazard risk gives Saint-Côme a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saint-Côme’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Côme: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Côme faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Côme grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Saint-Côme, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #29 of 507 in Quebec and #930 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 77 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Côme: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Côme’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around Saint-Côme fire takes 0.002% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Saint-Côme’s homes came within 9.0 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest crowds in on Saint-Côme: 62% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 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 in Quebec · highest of 513
At 0.002% a year, Saint-Côme is near the top in Quebec: 35th of 513, behind Mistissini (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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Saint-Côme burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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 Saint-Côme
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Côme, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Saint-Côme, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Saint-Côme has no flood study on file; only 45% of towns in Quebec do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Saint-Côme to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Côme $0.046 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.
Saint-Côme’s $0.046 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (1.5 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Quebec: Saint-Côme’s $0.046 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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 31% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Saint-Côme.
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 model counts damage to Saint-Côme’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
3.9% of homes tested around Saint-Côme are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Saint-Côme’s area, at 3.9%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Quebec (8.2%), the area around Saint-Côme has fewer high tests: 3.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Saint-Côme 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Saint-Côme can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Lanaudiere health region
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Côme
Alerts for Saint-Côme 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Saint-Côme are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Côme
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Côme | Low | $0.046 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie 1,856 · 12 km | Low | $0.048 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez 3,639 · 13 km | Low | $0.067 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Sainte-Béatrix 2,388 · 16 km | Low | $0.065 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha 5,415 · 18 km | Low | $0.068 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Damien 2,569 · 19 km | Low | $0.051 | 3.9% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Saint-Côme (low), with Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Côme faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Côme 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Saint-Côme sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Côme’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Saint-Côme floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Côme’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Côme
How is Saint-Côme’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Côme’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Saint-Côme at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Saint-Côme since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Saint-Côme flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-Côme’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Côme?
Around Saint-Côme, 77 survey homes were tested and 3.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Côme?
About $0.046 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Saint-Côme.
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).