Photo: Paulo O · Public domainA flood study covers Westphal: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Halifax Regional Municipality
Fire reaches the land around Westphal now and then: 2.3% within 25 km since 1986 (0.06% a year), below the high band. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Westphal as in most places, at $0.018 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). Westphal grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westphal’s hazards
For Westphal, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Westphal faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Westphal grades B− for hazard risk
For Westphal, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
A moderate wildfire record for Westphal: 2.3% within 25 km burned, 0.2% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Westphal’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Westphal is 0.06%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
The nearer ring around Westphal is less wooded (60% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (73%).
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
At 0.06% a year, Westphal is near the top in Nova Scotia: 19th of 90, 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.
Moderate puts Westphal above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
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.
Westphal is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Halifax Regional Municipality
Flood studies whose area touches Westphal, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Halifax Regional Municipality holds the flood mapping that covers Westphal (2024), linked below.
| 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
Westphal 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Westphal 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 Westphal: $0.018 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Westphal’s $0.018 is ordinary.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Halifax, with Westphal one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Nova Scotia is $0.018; Westphal, 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Westphal 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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Westphal.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
13% of homes tested around Westphal are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 13% over the guideline, the area around Westphal beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Zone 6 health region, Westphal included.
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 Westphal 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, Westphal 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Westphal, 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 Westphal
Alerts for Westphal 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 Westphal 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 Westphal’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westphal | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Cole Harbour 21,627 · 3.4 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Woodlawn 20,925 · 3.6 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Portland Estates 10,164 · 4.5 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| East Preston 2,573 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Manor Park 14,148 · 5.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Lawrencetown 3,509 · 6.0 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
Manor Park burns a little more than Westphal, 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 Westphal faces
Practical steps for Westphal’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
- 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 Westphal sits in.
- 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 Westphal.
- 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 Westphal floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Westphal’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westphal
Is Westphal at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Westphal’s band is moderate, with 2.3% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Westphal’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Westphal grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Westphal flood?
Westphal’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 Westphal?
About $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Westphal.
Is radon a problem in Westphal?
13% of the 101 homes Health Canada tested around Westphal topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).