Know the Hazards

Local Hazards

• Wildfire

  On average there are more than 1,600 wildfires in BC every year. Sometimes they burn in areas away from homes or infrastructure, with ecological benefits to the landscape. Other times, they they can threaten peoples' homes and livelihoods. 

  The probability of damaging wildfires has increased in recent years, due in part to the effects of climate change. If you live in a high-risk area, it's important that you take the time to prepare yourself and your household. Check out PreparedBC to learn how you can prepare for wildfires, including a preparedness guide.

  For tips on how you can protect your home during a wildfire, see the Penticton FireSmart page.

• Extreme Heat

  Extreme heat events (also known as heat waves) involve high temperatures that progressively rise for multiple days and stay elevated overnight and may be combined with high humidity. During extreme heat events, individuals are at higher risk of experiencing heat-related illness and these events are responsible for the highest number of weather-related deaths annually.

  For information about City services during extreme heat, see our Beat the Heat page.

  Check out PreparedBC to learn how you can prepare for extreme heat, including a preparedness guide.

• Landslides

  What a view! But with that view comes potential risk. When residential development expands onto steep slopes, landslides become a greater hazard for both people and infrastructure. Residential developments at the base of slopes may also be at risk. 

  There are several different kinds of landslides, but generally they are defined as the downward and outward movement of debris, such as rocks, boulders, soil, sediment and logs. The  material may move by falling, toppling, sliding, spreading and flowing. The rate of movement can range from virtually imperceptible to greater than 100 km/hour and the volume of debris can range from a few cubic metres to millions of cubic metres.

  Check out PreparedBC to learn how you can prepare for landslides, including a preparedness guide.

• Flooding

  Floods are common in BC and can happen at any time of the year. The most severe floods usually occur in spring and early summer due to heavy rain and melting snow. They can also be caused by storm surges, ice jams or damage to structures like dikes or dams.

  Climate change and related extreme weather events have increased the flood risk. Rising temperatures, changing freeze-thaw cycles and rising sea levels can all contribute to flooding.

  Check out PreparedBC to learn how you can prepare for floods, including a preparedness guide.

• Extreme Cold

  Being prepared for winter weather is important. Storms can disrupt transportation and cause power outages. Cold snaps can lead to icy road conditions and challenges for maintaining indoor temperatures. It’s best to consider your home and your day-to-day activities and create plans to stay safe when there are disruptions due to winter conditions.

  Remember that gas-burning appliances such barbeques, outdoor patio heaters, and generators must not be used indoors because they create dangerous carbon monoxide.

  Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) uses a variety of alerts for severe winter weather to keep the public informed about hazardous conditions. These include:

  • arctic outflow warnings (Coastal B.C.) 
  • extreme cold warnings, and  
  • alerts for snow and freezing rain. 

  You can find all current weather alerts on the Government of Canada’s Severe Winter Weather Alerts page, and you can receive all alerts for your area through the WeatherCAN app

  For information about City services during extreme, visit the Winter Warming page.

  Check out PreparedBC learn how you can prepare for extreme cold, including a preparedness guide.

• Pandemics

  Disease outbreaks can happen suddenly and without warning, often posing a threat to public health and safety. When an outbreak is limited to a particular area, it's called an epidemic. When the outbreak spreads to the rest of the world, it becomes a pandemic.

  Check out PreparedBC learn how you can prepare for pandemics and health emergencies, including a preparedness guide.

• Flash Storms

  Because we are located in a valley, in between two large lakes, we have the potential to experience high wind events and short, intense storms, sometimes referred to as flash storms. If a severe storm is forecast, secure everything that might be blown around or torn loose. Flying objects such as garbage cans and lawn furniture can injure people and damage property.

  • If you are indoors, stay away from windows, doors and fireplaces.
  • You may want to go to the sheltered area that you and your family chose in your emergency plan.
  • If you are advised by officials to evacuate, do so. Take your grab & go bag with you.
  • Never go out in a boat during a storm. If you are on the water and you see bad weather approaching, head for shore immediately. Always check the marine forecast before leaving for a day of boating and listen to weather reports during your cruise.
  • If you are in a car, stop the car away from trees or power lines that could fall on you. Stay there until the storm subsides.

• Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Analysis

   

   

  This project started in early 2025, with a completion date of February 2027, and is funded grant funded. Prior to this, the city had adopted the RDOS’ HRVA completed in 2008.

  This project aims to identify which hazards are most likely to impact the city, where they may occur, which assets are most vulnerable and why, who is most at risk, and the likely impacts. The project outcomes will form the foundation for our Emergency Program and identify planning priorities for the next 5 years.

  This project is being completed by Arcadis, a leader is local government risk assessments with a focus on incorporating climate risk and resilience strategies into actionable, implementable outcomes. As this project is taking a value-based approach, it will go beyond technical analysis of hazards to incorporate what matters to communities, such as safety, health, livelihoods, infrastructure services, cultural heritage, and environment integrity.

  The project deliverables will include:

  • Overview of the city’s existing risk reduction/resilience measures
  • Overview of the hazards and climate change projections
  • For each priority hazard, the defined extreme event scenario and the risk rating of all the selected consequences
  • For each of the selected consequences, there will be information on the key vulnerabilities and capacities as well as recommendations to support future planning
     

  Evacuation Route Plan

  This project started in December 2025 with an anticipated completion date of December 2026 and is partially grant funded.

  We are currently completing a review and update of our Evacuation Route Plan, originally developed in 2003. This is primarily an operational-level plan but will have public facing elements when complete. 

  The project deliverables will include:

  • An updated Evacuation Route Assessment completed by an Engineering firm including:
  • Updated population estimates based on evacuation zones
  • Estimated # of vehicles per zone
  • Analysis of evacuation route capacity, focused on scenarios deemed plausible based on potential hazards (wildfire from northeast, wildfire from southeast, Ellis Creek Dam failure, city wide evacuation north only, south only and, north and south)
  • A full update of our Evacuation Route Plan including updated mapping, internal planning processes, notification and alerting processes, guidance for various scenarios, updates to provincial supports, public preparedness campaign.