Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers Middle Sackville: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Halifax Regional Municipality
Wildfire is rare near Middle Sackville: 1.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.03% a year. Seismic risk in Middle Sackville sits near the middle: $0.018 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Middle Sackville grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Middle Sackville’s hazards
For Middle Sackville, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Middle Sackville faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Middle Sackville: B−
Two inputs always count for Middle Sackville, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
Little of the land around Middle Sackville has burned: 0% within 5 km, 1.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Middle Sackville’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Middle Sackville at 0.03% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Within 5 km of Middle Sackville, 68% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 78%.
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
In the upper half in Nova Scotia but far from Barrington (0.46%): Middle Sackville ranks 36th of 90, at 0.03% a year.
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 Middle Sackville 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.
Flooding around Middle Sackville is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Halifax Regional Municipality
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Middle Sackville: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Halifax Regional Municipality and others have studied flooding in areas that include Middle Sackville: 2 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of Coastal, Pluvial, Fluvial Flood Hazard Maps for Halifax Regional Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2024 | final |
| Sackville River | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2017 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Middle Sackville 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.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Middle Sackville between the 2010s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Middle Sackville.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Middle Sackville’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 Middle Sackville: $0.018 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Middle Sackville is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Nova Scotia is $0.018; Middle Sackville, at $0.018, is right beside it, and Clare tops the list 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 Middle Sackville.
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 Middle Sackville 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). · Earthquake risk: the city of Halifax
Radon runs high around Middle Sackville: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Zone 6 health region: radon tests
A higher share than most: 13% of tested homes around Middle Sackville, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
1% of tests around Middle Sackville passed 600 Bq/m³; over 200, its 13% matches the median in Nova Scotia, 13%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle Sackville 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Middle Sackville, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Middle Sackville
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Middle Sackville; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Middle Sackville come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Middle Sackville’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Sackville | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Lower Sackville 20,171 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Beaver Bank 9,157 · 6.1 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Hammonds Plains 13,844 · 7.7 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Bedford 28,848 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Fall River 9,214 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Clayton Park West 34,404 · 13 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
The fire record around Bedford is a touch heavier than Middle Sackville’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 Middle Sackville faces
What to do about the hazards Middle Sackville 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. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Middle Sackville sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Middle Sackville’s included.
- 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 Middle Sackville floods.
- 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 Middle Sackville.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Middle Sackville
How is Middle Sackville’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Middle Sackville’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Middle Sackville flood?
Middle Sackville’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 Middle Sackville?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Middle Sackville’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Middle Sackville at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 1.1% of the land within 25 km of Middle Sackville has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Middle Sackville?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 101 homes tested in Middle Sackville’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).