Photo: CP Hoffman from Washington, DC, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Flood mapping exists for Annapolis County, Subdivision A: 3 on record, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
Some 3.3% of the land within 25 km of Annapolis County, Subdivision A has burned since 1986; at 0.08% a year that is moderate, not high. NRCan expects $0.021 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Annapolis County, Subdivision A, near the typical $0.030. Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s survey area, 5.6% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Annapolis County, Subdivision A grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Annapolis County, Subdivision A: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Annapolis County, Subdivision A faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Annapolis County, Subdivision A grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Annapolis County, Subdivision A with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #22 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #674 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for Annapolis County, Subdivision A: 3.3% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.08% of the land a year, Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest thickens with distance from Annapolis County, Subdivision A: 70% of the land within 5 km, 77% 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 Nova Scotia · highest of 90
Annapolis County, Subdivision A ranks 5th of the 90 towns in Nova Scotia for burn rate, at 0.08% a year; Barrington leads with 0.46%.
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.
Annapolis County, Subdivision A is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
Flooding around Annapolis County, Subdivision A is mapped in 3 studies, the newest by Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Annapolis County, Subdivision A: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
3 studies on the inventory touch Annapolis County, Subdivision A, the newest Province of Nova Scotia’s from 2024, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Flood Mapping Minas Basin Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
| Sissiboo/Bear Primary Watershed | Province of Nova Scotia | 2023 | final · not public |
| Fundy Agricultural Marshlands Flood Maps | Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, Saint Mary’s University | 2018 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Annapolis County, Subdivision A is one of the 88% of towns in Nova Scotia 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.
Mapping around Annapolis County, Subdivision A goes back to the 2010s and peaks in the 2020s, with 2 of its 3 studies.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Annapolis County, Subdivision A.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Annapolis County, Subdivision A.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Annapolis County, Subdivision A $0.021 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s $0.021 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s $0.021 is close to the median in Nova Scotia, $0.018; Clare is highest at $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.
Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 63% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Annapolis County, Subdivision A’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).
5.6% of homes tested around Annapolis County, Subdivision A are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Zone 2 health region: radon tests
Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 5.6% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Annapolis County, Subdivision A (5.6%) than in the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%), yet 2.8% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
One home in Annapolis County, Subdivision A can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Annapolis County, Subdivision A
Alerts for Annapolis County, Subdivision A 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 Annapolis County, Subdivision A 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)
Get ready for what Annapolis County, Subdivision A faces
What to do about the hazards Annapolis County, Subdivision A faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Annapolis County, Subdivision A.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Annapolis County, Subdivision A is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Annapolis County, Subdivision A
Is Annapolis County, Subdivision A at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 3.3% of the land around Annapolis County, Subdivision A since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Annapolis County, Subdivision A?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s buildings lose $0.021 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Annapolis County, Subdivision A A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Annapolis County, Subdivision A?
Around Annapolis County, Subdivision A, 107 survey homes were tested and 5.6% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Annapolis County, Subdivision A flood?
There is flood mapping for Annapolis County, Subdivision A 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).