Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainColchester County, Subdivision C is on Canada’s flood inventory: 4 listed, led by Halifax Regional Municipality
Little of the land around Colchester County, Subdivision C has burned: 0.2% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.004% a year. Earthquake risk in Colchester County, Subdivision C is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Radon is higher than usual: 13% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Colchester County, Subdivision C grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Colchester County, Subdivision C’s hazards
For Colchester County, Subdivision C, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Colchester County, Subdivision C 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 C: B−
Two inputs always count for Colchester County, Subdivision C, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
Few fires near Colchester County, Subdivision C: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Colchester County, Subdivision C’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Colchester County, Subdivision C’s 0.004% is in the low band.
Within 5 km of Colchester County, Subdivision C, 74% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 79%.
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
Some fire is mapped around Colchester County, Subdivision C (0.004% a year), but it ranks only 52nd of 90 towns in Nova Scotia; Barrington has 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Colchester County, Subdivision C reads low, with 92% of them; only 7.5% 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 Colchester County, Subdivision C is mapped in 4 studies, the newest by Halifax Regional Municipality
Flood studies whose area touches Colchester County, Subdivision C, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
4 studies on the inventory touch Colchester County, Subdivision C, the newest Halifax Regional Municipality’s from 2024, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of Coastal, Pluvial, Fluvial Flood Hazard Maps for Halifax Regional Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2024 | final |
| 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 |
| East Hants | Municipality of East Hants | 2013 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Colchester County, Subdivision C with 88% of towns in Nova Scotia; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 4 studies touching Colchester County, Subdivision C are spread over time, from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Colchester County, Subdivision C.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Colchester County, Subdivision C.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Colchester County, Subdivision C: $0.018 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Colchester County, Subdivision C’s $0.018 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Nova Scotia: Colchester County, Subdivision C’s $0.018 sits by the median of $0.018, while Clare reaches $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.
68% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Colchester County, Subdivision C.
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 C 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).
13% of homes tested around Colchester County, Subdivision C are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the Zone 3 health region
A higher share than most: 13% of tested homes around Colchester County, Subdivision C, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Colchester County, Subdivision C’s area, at 13%, is close to the median in Nova Scotia (13%); 3.1% 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Colchester County, Subdivision C among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
Whatever Colchester County, Subdivision C’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Colchester County, Subdivision C
Alerts for Colchester County, Subdivision C 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Colchester County, Subdivision C to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Colchester County, Subdivision C’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester County, Subdivision C | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Millbrook 27 1,122 · 6.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 13% | Yes |
| Truro 14,652 · 8.0 km | Low | $0.014 | 13% | Yes |
| Colchester County, Subdivision B 21,578 · 17 km | Low | $0.017 | 13% | Yes |
Colchester County, Subdivision C’s low band tops its neighbours; Millbrook 27 is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Colchester County, Subdivision C faces
What to do about the hazards Colchester County, Subdivision C 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Colchester County, Subdivision C’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Colchester County, Subdivision C without grading them.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Colchester County, Subdivision C until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Colchester County, Subdivision C, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Colchester County, Subdivision C
Does Colchester County, Subdivision C flood?
A flood study covers Colchester County, Subdivision C on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Colchester County, Subdivision C?
Around Colchester County, Subdivision C, 96 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Colchester County, Subdivision C?
About $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Colchester County, Subdivision C.
How is Colchester County, Subdivision C’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Colchester County, Subdivision C B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Colchester County, Subdivision C at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around Colchester County, Subdivision C since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
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).