Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Pictou County, Subdivision B is lower than in 97% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around Pictou County, Subdivision B, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.001% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is lower than usual: 2% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Pictou County, Subdivision B grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Pictou County, Subdivision B’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Pictou County, Subdivision B: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Pictou 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 Pictou County, Subdivision B: A+
Two inputs always count for Pictou County, Subdivision B, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #1 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #229 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Pictou County, Subdivision B: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Pictou County, Subdivision B’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.001% burned a year, Pictou County, Subdivision B is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Forest thickens with distance from Pictou County, Subdivision B: 76% of the land within 5 km, 82% 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 90
Barrington tops the 90 towns in Nova Scotia at 0.46% a year; Pictou County, Subdivision B, 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Pictou County, Subdivision B reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
Flooding around Pictou County, Subdivision B is mapped in 4 studies, the newest by Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pictou County, Subdivision B: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 4 studies covering Pictou County, Subdivision B is Province of Nova Scotia’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northumberland Shore Region | Province of Nova Scotia | 2025 | final · not public |
| Northumberland Region | Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs | 2025 | under review · not public |
| Creation of Coastal, Pluvial, Fluvial Flood Hazard Maps for Halifax Regional Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2024 | final |
| Eastern Shore Flood Mapping Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Pictou County, Subdivision B with 88% of towns in Nova Scotia; Canada’s share is 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 Pictou County, Subdivision B.
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.
Low seismic risk in Pictou County, Subdivision B: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Pictou County, Subdivision B’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Nova Scotia peaks in Clare ($0.034); Pictou County, Subdivision B, at $0.013, is below the median of $0.018.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 75% of its 2,611 towns sit above Pictou County, Subdivision B.
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 model counts damage to Pictou County, Subdivision B’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
2% of homes tested around Pictou County, Subdivision B are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 2% over the guideline, the area around Pictou County, Subdivision B is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Pictou County, Subdivision B (2%) than in the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Pictou County, Subdivision B is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
One home in Pictou County, Subdivision B 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Zone 4 health region
Weather and fire alerts for Pictou County, Subdivision B
Alerts for Pictou 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 Pictou 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 Pictou County, Subdivision B
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | Low | $0.013 | 2% | Yes |
| Westville 3,731 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.021 | 2% | Yes |
| Stellarton 4,251 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| New Glasgow 10,378 · 10 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Trenton 2,499 · 13 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C 8,847 · 15 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou 3,307 · 17 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
Westville (low) has the heaviest fire record of Pictou County, Subdivision B’s neighbours, and Pictou County, Subdivision B (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Pictou County, Subdivision B faces
What to do about the hazards Pictou 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 Pictou County, Subdivision B floods.
- 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 Pictou County, Subdivision B sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Pictou County, Subdivision B’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Pictou County, Subdivision B’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pictou County, Subdivision B
Does Pictou County, Subdivision B flood?
Pictou 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.
Is Pictou County, Subdivision B at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Pictou County, Subdivision B has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pictou County, Subdivision B?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Pictou County, Subdivision B $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Pictou County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Pictou County, Subdivision B grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Pictou County, Subdivision B?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2% of 99 homes tested in Pictou County, Subdivision B’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).