Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers Annapolis County, Subdivision B: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Province of Nova Scotia
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Annapolis County, Subdivision B: 4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.10% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. For earthquakes Annapolis County, Subdivision B is middling, $0.022 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is about average around Annapolis County, Subdivision B: 5.6% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Annapolis County, Subdivision B a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Annapolis County, Subdivision B: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Annapolis County, Subdivision B faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Annapolis County, Subdivision B: A−
Seismic risk and radon set Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #23 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #682 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.
Some fire around Annapolis County, Subdivision B: 4% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.10% of the land a year, Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 6.2 km from Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest fuel covers 59% of the land close to Annapolis County, Subdivision B and 70% across 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
Barrington burns fastest in Nova Scotia at 0.46% a year; Annapolis County, Subdivision B, at 0.10%, ranks 4th of 90.
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.
Moderate puts Annapolis County, Subdivision B above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
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.
Annapolis County, Subdivision B is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
Flood studies whose area touches Annapolis County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Annapolis County, Subdivision B is Province of Nova Scotia’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Flood Mapping Minas Basin Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | 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
88% of towns in Nova Scotia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Annapolis County, Subdivision B has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Annapolis County, Subdivision B are spread over time, from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Annapolis County, Subdivision B.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Annapolis County, Subdivision B 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Ordinary seismic risk in Annapolis County, Subdivision B: $0.022 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
With $0.022 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Annapolis County, Subdivision B is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Annapolis County, Subdivision B runs at $0.022 a year, near the $0.018 of the typical town in Nova Scotia; Clare has $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 B’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 61% 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 loss is to Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 B are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Zone 2 health region
At 5.6% over the guideline, the area around Annapolis County, Subdivision B is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s area, at 5.6%, is below the median in Nova Scotia (13%), though 2.8% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s band of 5 to 10%; 26% sit 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Annapolis County, Subdivision B 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Annapolis County, Subdivision B
Alerts for Annapolis County, Subdivision B 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 Annapolis County, Subdivision B 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)
How Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annapolis County, Subdivision B | Moderate | $0.022 | 5.6% | Yes |
| Middleton 1,978 · 17 km | Low | $0.041 | 5.6% | Yes |
Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s moderate band tops its neighbours; Middleton is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Annapolis County, Subdivision B faces
Practical steps for Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Annapolis County, Subdivision B takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Annapolis County, Subdivision B.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Annapolis County, Subdivision B
How is Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Annapolis County, Subdivision B A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Annapolis County, Subdivision B flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Annapolis County, Subdivision B; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Annapolis County, Subdivision B at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Annapolis County, Subdivision B’s moderate band (4% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Annapolis County, Subdivision B?
Expected earthquake damage in Annapolis County, Subdivision B comes to $0.022 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Annapolis County, Subdivision B?
The area’s survey found 5.6% of 107 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Annapolis County, Subdivision B.
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).