Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers Dutch Settlement: 5 on the national inventory, the newest from Halifax Regional Municipality
Burn scars are few around Dutch Settlement, with 1.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.03% a year). For earthquakes Dutch Settlement is middling, $0.018 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is higher than usual: 13% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Dutch Settlement grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Dutch Settlement’s hazards
For Dutch Settlement, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Dutch Settlement faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Dutch Settlement grades B− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Dutch Settlement with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #47 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,724 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Dutch Settlement has burned: 0.1% within 5 km, 1.2% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Dutch Settlement’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.03% of the land a year, Dutch Settlement’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Dutch Settlement: 75% within 5 km and 79% 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
Dutch Settlement sits mid-table in Nova Scotia: 34th of 90 towns, at 0.03% a year, well behind Barrington (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.
Some fire is mapped around Dutch Settlement, 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.
5 flood studies cover Dutch Settlement, the newest from Halifax Regional Municipality
Flood studies whose area touches Dutch Settlement, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Dutch Settlement the inventory points to 5 studies, most recently Halifax Regional Municipality’s in 2024.
| 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 |
| Shubenacadie Lakes Floodplain Study | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2020 | final |
| 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
Dutch Settlement 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.
The studies touching Dutch Settlement lean recent: 3 of 5 date from the 2020s, the first from the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Dutch Settlement.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Dutch Settlement’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Dutch Settlement: $0.018 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 $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Dutch Settlement is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Dutch Settlement shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Halifax.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Dutch Settlement 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.
Dutch Settlement is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 68% 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).
For Dutch Settlement the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Dutch Settlement: 13% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the Zone 6 health region
Dutch Settlement’s area, at 13%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
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 Dutch Settlement had 1% over 600.
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, Dutch Settlement 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.
Neighbouring homes in Dutch Settlement can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Dutch Settlement
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Dutch Settlement; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Dutch Settlement, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Dutch Settlement
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Settlement | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Fall River 9,214 · 9.1 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Beaver Bank 9,157 · 11 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Enfield 26,960 · 16 km | Low | $0.021 | 13% | Yes |
| Lower Sackville 20,171 · 16 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Middle Sackville 14,898 · 16 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
The fire record around Lower Sackville is a touch heavier than Dutch Settlement’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 Dutch Settlement faces
What to do about the hazards Dutch Settlement 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
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Dutch Settlement is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Dutch Settlement, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Dutch Settlement’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Dutch Settlement.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Dutch Settlement
How is Dutch Settlement’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Dutch Settlement B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Dutch Settlement?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 101 homes tested in Dutch Settlement’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Dutch Settlement?
About $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Dutch Settlement.
Is Dutch Settlement at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 1.2% of the land within 25 km of Dutch Settlement has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Dutch Settlement flood?
There is flood mapping for Dutch Settlement on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
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).