Wildfire low, radon 14%: how Membertou 28B stands on hazards
Fire seldom reaches Membertou 28B: since 1986, 0.6% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.02% a year). NRCan expects $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Membertou 28B, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Membertou 28B a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Membertou 28B’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Membertou 28B: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Membertou 28B faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Membertou 28B: C+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Membertou 28B with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Membertou 28B: 0.6% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Membertou 28B’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Membertou 28B’s 0.02% is in the low band.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 5.2 km from Membertou 28B’s homes, none within 5 km.
There is forest near Membertou 28B’s homes (45% within 5 km) and more of it further out (74% 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
Membertou 28B burns at 0.02% a year, 42nd of 91 towns in Nova Scotia; the leader, Barrington, reaches 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.
Membertou 28B is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
No flood study is listed for Membertou 28B
Flood studies whose area touches Membertou 28B, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Membertou 28B; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Membertou 28B has no flood study on file, though 88% of towns in Nova Scotia do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Membertou 28B.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Membertou 28B $0.018 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Membertou 28B, $0.018 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Membertou 28B’s $0.018 is close to the median in Nova Scotia, $0.018; Clare is highest 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (68%) face more earthquake damage than Membertou 28B.
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 Membertou 28B’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).
Test for radon in Membertou 28B: 14% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 14% over the guideline, the area around Membertou 28B beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
6.5% of tests around Membertou 28B passed 600 Bq/m³; over 200, its 14% 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, Membertou 28B 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.
One home in Membertou 28B can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Zone 5 health region
Weather and fire alerts for Membertou 28B
Alerts for Membertou 28B 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 Membertou 28B 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 Membertou 28B’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membertou 28B | Low | $0.018 | 14% | None listed |
| Cape Breton 106,752 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.020 | 14% | None listed |
Nowhere around Membertou 28B burns more: Cape Breton, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Membertou 28B faces
What to do about the hazards Membertou 28B 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Membertou 28B.
- 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 Membertou 28B’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Membertou 28B takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Membertou 28B’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 Membertou 28B
Is Membertou 28B at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.6% of the land within 25 km of Membertou 28B has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Membertou 28B?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 92 homes tested in Membertou 28B’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Membertou 28B?
About $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Membertou 28B.
Does Membertou 28B flood?
Nothing is listed for Membertou 28B on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Membertou 28B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Membertou 28B C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).