Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainFlood mapping exists for Cumberland County, Subdivision C: 5 on record, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
Burn scars are few around Cumberland County, Subdivision C, 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 C as in most places, at $0.026 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Cumberland County, Subdivision C a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Cumberland County, Subdivision C: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Cumberland 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C: C+
The grade weighs Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #86 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,889 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.
Wildfire is rare near Cumberland County, Subdivision C: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Cumberland County, Subdivision C is 0.003%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
About as much forest grows next to Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s homes (59% within 5 km) as across 25 km (64%).
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 C, 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.
Some fire is mapped around Cumberland County, Subdivision C, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C is mapped in 5 studies, the newest by Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Cumberland County, Subdivision C: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 5 studies covering Cumberland County, Subdivision C is Province of Nova Scotia’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northumberland Shore Region | Province of Nova Scotia | 2025 | final · not public |
| Northumberland Region | Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs | 2025 | under review · not public |
| Upper Bay of Fundy Flood Mapping Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
| Inland Flood Mapping in New Brunswick and Updated Sea-Level Rise and Flooding Estimates for New Brunswick Coastal Sections 2020 | Service New Brunswick - GeoNB | 2020 | final |
| 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 C 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 C (4 of 5), the first dating from the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Cumberland County, Subdivision C.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Cumberland County, Subdivision C 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.
Expected shaking damage in Cumberland County, Subdivision C: $0.026 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.026 per $1,000, Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.9 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Above the middle in Nova Scotia: Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s $0.026 against a median of $0.018, with Clare 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.
Cumberland County, Subdivision C sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 53% expect more shaking damage.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 C: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Zone 3 health region: radon tests
Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s survey area reads 13% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
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 C 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 C 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Cumberland County, Subdivision C 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C
Alerts for Cumberland 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. |
Evacuation orders for Cumberland County, Subdivision C 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland County, Subdivision C | Low | $0.026 | 13% | Yes |
| Amherst 10,072 · 9.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 13% | Yes |
| Westmorland 1,060 · 19 km | Low | $0.034 | 20% | Yes |
The fire record around Amherst is a touch heavier than Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cumberland County, Subdivision C faces
What to do about the hazards Cumberland 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. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C sits in.
- 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 Cumberland County, Subdivision C floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cumberland County, Subdivision C
Does Cumberland County, Subdivision C flood?
Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cumberland County, Subdivision C?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Cumberland County, Subdivision C $0.026 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Cumberland County, Subdivision C?
Around Cumberland 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.
Is Cumberland County, Subdivision C at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Cumberland County, Subdivision C since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Cumberland County, Subdivision C’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Cumberland County, Subdivision C C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).