Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainLawrencetown is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Halifax Regional Municipality
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Lawrencetown: 2.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.06% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Earthquake risk in Lawrencetown 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. Hazard risk gives Lawrencetown a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Lawrencetown’s hazards
For Lawrencetown, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Lawrencetown faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Lawrencetown: B−
Seismic risk and radon set Lawrencetown’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #47 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,724 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.
Some fire around Lawrencetown: 2.4% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 11% within 5 km
Past fire around Lawrencetown’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Lawrencetown is 0.06%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Lawrencetown: 75% within 5 km and 75% 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
Lawrencetown ranks 17th of the 90 towns in Nova Scotia for burn rate, at 0.06% a year; Barrington leads with 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.
Lawrencetown is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
Lawrencetown is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Halifax Regional Municipality
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Lawrencetown: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Halifax Regional Municipality studied flooding in an area that includes Lawrencetown (2024); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of Coastal, Pluvial, Fluvial Flood Hazard Maps for Halifax Regional Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
88% of towns in Nova Scotia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Lawrencetown has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Lawrencetown 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 Lawrencetown $0.018 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Lawrencetown, $0.018 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Lawrencetown at $0.018 beside a median in Nova Scotia of $0.018, with Clare on top 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Lawrencetown than in 68% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Lawrencetown 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). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Halifax
Test for radon in Lawrencetown: 13% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Lawrencetown’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 Lawrencetown had 1% 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 Lawrencetown, 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.
Neighbouring homes in Lawrencetown 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Zone 6 health region
Where to get warnings in Lawrencetown
Alerts for Lawrencetown 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 Lawrencetown 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 Lawrencetown’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrencetown | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| East Preston 2,573 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Westphal 4,201 · 6.0 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Cole Harbour 21,627 · 6.0 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Lake Echo 5,223 · 7.6 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| East Lawrencetown 4,020 · 8.7 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Portland Estates 10,164 · 8.7 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
Portland Estates burns a little more than Lawrencetown, in the same moderate band (moderate here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Lawrencetown faces
Practical steps for Lawrencetown’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Lawrencetown’s included.
- 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 Lawrencetown.
- 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 Lawrencetown 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 Lawrencetown floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Lawrencetown
How big is the earthquake risk in Lawrencetown?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Lawrencetown’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Lawrencetown’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Lawrencetown grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Lawrencetown flood?
Lawrencetown’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Lawrencetown?
13% of the 101 homes Health Canada tested around Lawrencetown topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Lawrencetown at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Lawrencetown’s band is moderate, with 2.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its 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).