Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers Colchester County, Subdivision A: 4 on the national inventory, the newest from Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs
Wildfire is rare near Colchester County, Subdivision A: 0% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.001% a year. NRCan expects $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Colchester County, Subdivision A, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Colchester County, Subdivision A grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Colchester County, Subdivision A’s hazards
For Colchester County, Subdivision A, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Colchester County, Subdivision A faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Colchester County, Subdivision A: B−
Earthquake risk and radon make Colchester County, Subdivision A’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #42 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,646 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Colchester County, Subdivision A: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Colchester County, Subdivision A’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Colchester County, Subdivision A burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Colchester County, Subdivision A’s homes (60% within 5 km) as across 25 km (65%).
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
In the lower half in Nova Scotia: Colchester County, Subdivision A at 0.001% a year, 69th of 90, far from Barrington’s 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Colchester County, Subdivision A 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.
Colchester County, Subdivision A is on the flood map inventory: 4 studies, latest by Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs
Flood studies whose area touches Colchester County, Subdivision A, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
4 studies on the inventory touch Colchester County, Subdivision A, the newest Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northumberland Region | Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs | 2025 | under review · not public |
| Nova Scotia Flood Mapping Minas Basin Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
| Upper Bay of Fundy Flood Mapping 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
Colchester 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 Colchester County, Subdivision A goes back to the 2010s and peaks in the 2020s, with 3 of its 4 studies.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Colchester County, Subdivision A.
Flood mapping is shown for Colchester County, Subdivision A 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Colchester County, Subdivision A $0.018 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.
Nothing unusual about Colchester County, Subdivision A’s ground: $0.018 against a typical $0.030, 0.6 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Colchester County, Subdivision A runs at $0.018 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 68% of its 2,611 towns sit above Colchester County, Subdivision A.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Colchester County, Subdivision A is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Colchester County, Subdivision A: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Zone 3 health region
More homes than usual test high around Colchester County, Subdivision A: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Colchester County, Subdivision A, 13% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%); 3.1% were over 600.
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 Colchester County, Subdivision A, 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Colchester County, Subdivision A’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Colchester County, Subdivision A
Alerts for Colchester 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 Colchester 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 Colchester County, Subdivision A faces
Practical steps for Colchester County, Subdivision A’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Colchester County, Subdivision A.
- 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 Colchester County, Subdivision A floods.
- 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 Colchester County, Subdivision A sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Colchester County, Subdivision A’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Colchester County, Subdivision A
Is Colchester County, Subdivision A at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Colchester County, Subdivision A’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2023) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Colchester County, Subdivision A?
The area’s survey found 13% of 96 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Colchester County, Subdivision A.
How big is the earthquake risk in Colchester County, Subdivision A?
Expected earthquake damage in Colchester County, Subdivision A comes to $0.018 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Colchester County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Colchester County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Colchester County, Subdivision A flood?
Colchester County, Subdivision A’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).