Photo: Thorfinn Stainforth · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for South End: 1 on record, latest by Halifax Regional Municipality
Some 2.7% of the land within 25 km of South End has burned since 1986; at 0.07% a year that is moderate, not high. Shaking is about as much of a worry in South End as in most places, at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is higher than usual: 13% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. South End grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about South End’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for South End: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What South End faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in South End: B−
Two inputs always count for South End, 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: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire reaches the land around South End: 5.2% within 5 km, 2.7% within 25 km
Past fire around South End’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.07% of the land a year, South End’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The nearer ring around South End is less wooded (46% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (70%).
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 top quarter in Nova Scotia: South End ranks 7th of 90 at 0.07% a year, with Barrington first at 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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with South End, and 2.1% sit 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.
A flood study covers South End, from Halifax Regional Municipality: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for South End: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches South End, Halifax Regional Municipality’s from 2024, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| 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
South End 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for South End.
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 South End: $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, South End is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Nova Scotia: South End’s $0.018 sits by the median of $0.018, while Clare reaches $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 South End.
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 South End’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). · Earthquake risk published for the city of Halifax, not by town
Test for radon in South End: 13% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Zone 6 health region
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; South End’s area has 13%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
1% of tests around South End 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, South End 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in South End 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 South End
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for South End; 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 South End, 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)
How South End’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South End | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Westmount 23,207 · 2.4 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Schmidtville 18,105 · 2.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| North End 19,733 · 3.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Windsor Park 13,044 · 4.6 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Fairview 16,296 · 4.9 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Mount Royale 9,340 · 5.3 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than South End (moderate); Schmidtville comes closest (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what South End faces
What to do about the hazards South End faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for South End is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 South End’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of South End’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 South End.
Questions about flooding and hazards in South End
How big is the earthquake risk in South End?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in South End $0.018 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in South End?
Around South End, 101 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is South End at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.7% of the land around South End since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does South End flood?
There is flood mapping for South End on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is South End’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
South End’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).