Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainFlood mapping exists for Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 3 on record, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
Burn scars are few around Cumberland County, Subdivision A, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.003% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Cumberland County, Subdivision A as in most places, at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 13% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Cumberland County, Subdivision A grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Cumberland County, Subdivision A: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Cumberland 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision A: B−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Cumberland County, Subdivision A with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 0.1% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.003% of the land a year around Cumberland County, Subdivision A, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 72% within 5 km and 69% 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
Barrington tops the 90 towns in Nova Scotia at 0.46% a year; Cumberland County, Subdivision A, at 0.003%, comes 55th.
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 Cumberland 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.
Cumberland County, Subdivision A is on the flood map inventory: 3 studies, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Cumberland County, Subdivision A: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Province of Nova Scotia and others have studied flooding in areas that include Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 3 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Flood maps are common in Nova Scotia: 88% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Cumberland County, Subdivision A is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2020s brought the most flood studies for Cumberland County, Subdivision A (2 of 3), the first dating from the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Cumberland County, Subdivision A.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s homes are at risk.
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 Cumberland County, Subdivision A: $0.018 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.018 per $1,000, Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s $0.018 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.
68% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Cumberland 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).
The loss is to Cumberland County, Subdivision A’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).
Radon runs high around Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Zone 3 health region
More homes than usual test high around Cumberland County, Subdivision A: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Ordinary for towns in Nova Scotia at 13% over 200 Bq/m³ (13% is the median), the area around Cumberland County, Subdivision A had 3.1% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cumberland County, Subdivision A is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Cumberland County, Subdivision A as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Cumberland County, Subdivision A
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cumberland County, Subdivision A; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| 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. |
For fires near Cumberland County, Subdivision A, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Cumberland County, Subdivision A faces
What to do about the hazards Cumberland County, Subdivision A 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Cumberland County, Subdivision A 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision A until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cumberland County, Subdivision A
How is Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Cumberland County, Subdivision A grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Cumberland County, Subdivision A?
Around Cumberland County, Subdivision A, 96 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Cumberland County, Subdivision A flood?
A flood study covers Cumberland County, Subdivision A on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cumberland County, Subdivision A?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Cumberland County, Subdivision A at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Cumberland County, Subdivision A since 1986 (last in 2024); 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).