Photo: Edgar El · CC BY 3.0A flood study covers Mahone Bay: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Town of Mahone Bay
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Mahone Bay: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.001% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Mahone Bay as in most places, at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 6.2% of homes tested in Mahone Bay’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Mahone Bay grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Mahone Bay’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Mahone Bay: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Mahone Bay faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Mahone Bay grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Mahone Bay, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Mahone Bay has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Mahone Bay’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.001% of the land a year around Mahone Bay, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Mahone Bay’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 8.8 km away.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Mahone Bay: 85% within 5 km and 86% 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 91
Barrington tops the 91 towns in Nova Scotia at 0.46% a year; Mahone Bay, at 0.001%, comes 69th.
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 Mahone Bay 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.
A flood study covers Mahone Bay, from Town of Mahone Bay: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Mahone Bay, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Mahone Bay, Town of Mahone Bay’s from 2016, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahone Bay | Town of Mahone Bay | 2016 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Nova Scotia reaches 88% of towns, Mahone Bay 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Mahone Bay’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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Mahone Bay: $0.018 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.
With $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Mahone Bay is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Mahone Bay 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.
Mahone Bay is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 68% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
The loss is to Mahone Bay’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Mahone Bay: 6.2% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
6.2% of tested homes around Mahone Bay were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Zone 1 health region as a whole, not for Mahone Bay alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%) at 6.2%, the area around Mahone Bay still had 2.1% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Mahone Bay is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Mahone Bay only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Mahone Bay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Mahone Bay; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Mahone Bay, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Mahone Bay
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahone Bay | Low | $0.018 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Lunenburg 2,523 · 9.7 km | Low | $0.018 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Lunenburg 26,862 · 11 km | Low | $0.022 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Bridgewater 9,989 · 13 km | Low | $0.021 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Chester 11,740 · 18 km | Low | $0.018 | 6.2% | Yes |
The fire record around Chester is a touch heavier than Mahone Bay’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 Mahone Bay faces
What to do about the hazards Mahone Bay 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 Mahone Bay 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 Mahone Bay floods.
- 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 Mahone Bay’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Mahone Bay’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Mahone Bay
Is radon a problem in Mahone Bay?
In Health Canada’s survey, 6.2% of 97 homes tested in Mahone Bay’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Mahone Bay flood?
Mahone Bay’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 Mahone Bay?
Expected earthquake damage in Mahone Bay comes to $0.018 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Mahone Bay at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Mahone Bay has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Mahone Bay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Mahone Bay’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).