Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainKings County, Subdivision B is on Canada’s flood inventory: 4 listed, led by Province of Nova Scotia
Fire seldom reaches Kings County, Subdivision B: since 1986, 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.005% a year). NRCan expects $0.022 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Kings County, Subdivision B, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 5.6% of homes tested in Kings County, Subdivision B’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Kings County, Subdivision B a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Kings County, Subdivision B’s hazards
For Kings County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Kings County, Subdivision B faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Kings County, Subdivision B: A−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Kings County, Subdivision B with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #23 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #682 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 Kings County, Subdivision B has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Kings County, Subdivision B’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Kings County, Subdivision B’s 0.005% is in the low band.
Forest fuel covers 39% of the land close to Kings County, Subdivision B and 59% across 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
Kings County, Subdivision B ranks 49th of the 90 towns in Nova Scotia for burn rate (0.005% a year), in the lower half; Barrington leads 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Kings County, Subdivision B among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
Kings County, Subdivision B is on the flood map inventory: 4 studies, latest by Province of Nova Scotia
Flood studies whose area touches Kings County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
4 studies on the inventory touch Kings County, Subdivision B, the newest Province of Nova Scotia’s from 2024, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Flood Mapping Minas Basin Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
| Fundy Agricultural Marshlands Flood Maps | Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, Saint Mary’s University | 2018 | final · not public |
| East Kentville | Town of Kentville | 2014 | final |
| Kings County | Municipality of the County of Kings | 2012 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Nova Scotia reaches 88% of towns, Kings County, Subdivision B included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Studies touching Kings County, Subdivision B run from the 2010s to the 2020s, with the most in the 2010s: 3 of 4.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Kings County, Subdivision B.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Kings County, Subdivision B 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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Kings County, Subdivision B: $0.022 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.
0.7 times the typical $0.030: Kings County, Subdivision B’s $0.022 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Kings County, Subdivision B runs at $0.022 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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Kings County, Subdivision B (61%).
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 Kings County, Subdivision B.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
5.6% of homes tested around Kings County, Subdivision B are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 5.6% over the guideline, the area around Kings County, Subdivision B is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Kings County, Subdivision B shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Zone 2 health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Kings County, Subdivision B (5.6%) than in the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%), yet 2.8% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Kings County, Subdivision B with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Kings County, Subdivision B 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 Kings County, Subdivision B
Alerts for Kings County, Subdivision B 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Kings County, Subdivision B to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Kings County, Subdivision B
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, Subdivision B | Low | $0.022 | 5.6% | Yes |
| Kentville 7,589 · 7.1 km | Low | $0.017 | 5.6% | Yes |
| Wolfville 5,587 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.016 | 5.6% | Yes |
| Kings County, Subdivision C 8,994 · 9.0 km | Low | $0.020 | 5.6% | Yes |
| Kings County, Subdivision D 6,517 · 12 km | Low | $0.018 | 5.6% | Yes |
Kings County, Subdivision B’s low band tops its neighbours; Kentville is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Kings County, Subdivision B faces
What to do about the hazards Kings County, Subdivision B 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
- 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 Kings County, Subdivision B floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Kings County, Subdivision B’s included.
- 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 Kings County, Subdivision B 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 Kings County, Subdivision B.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Kings County, Subdivision B
Is radon a problem in Kings County, Subdivision B?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5.6% of 107 homes tested in Kings County, Subdivision B’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Kings County, Subdivision B at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.2% of the land within 25 km of Kings County, Subdivision B has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Kings County, Subdivision B?
Expected earthquake damage in Kings County, Subdivision B comes to $0.022 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Kings County, Subdivision B flood?
Kings County, Subdivision B’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 is Kings County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Kings County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk grade is A−, 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).