Photo: Ross Dunn - Thanks for 13 million + views · CC BY-SA 2.0Victoria County, Subdivision B’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 14% of area homes over the radon guideline
Little of the land around Victoria County, Subdivision B has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.002% 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. Victoria County, Subdivision B grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Victoria County, Subdivision B’s hazards
For Victoria County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Victoria 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 Victoria County, Subdivision B: B−
Two inputs always count for Victoria County, Subdivision B, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #45 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,709 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Victoria County, Subdivision B has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Victoria County, Subdivision B’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.002% of the land near Victoria County, Subdivision B burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 6.2 km from Victoria County, Subdivision B’s homes, none within 5 km.
About as much forest grows next to Victoria County, Subdivision B’s homes (75% within 5 km) as across 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
Some fire is mapped around Victoria County, Subdivision B (0.002% a year), but it ranks only 60th of 90 towns in Nova Scotia; Barrington has 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Victoria County, Subdivision B 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.
No flood study is listed for Victoria County, Subdivision B
Flood studies whose area touches Victoria County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Victoria County, Subdivision B, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Nova Scotia, 88% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Victoria County, Subdivision B.
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 Victoria 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.”
Low seismic risk in Victoria County, Subdivision B: $0.013 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.
Victoria 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
At $0.013, Victoria County, Subdivision B is below the typical town 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 (75%) face more earthquake damage than Victoria 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Victoria County, Subdivision B is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
14% of homes tested around Victoria 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. · Radon tests for the Zone 5 health region
Victoria County, Subdivision B’s area, at 14%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Victoria County, Subdivision B, 14% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%); 6.5% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Victoria County, Subdivision B is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are higher.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Victoria County, Subdivision B’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Victoria County, Subdivision B
Alerts for Victoria 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Victoria County, Subdivision B are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Victoria County, Subdivision B faces
What to do about the hazards Victoria 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Victoria County, Subdivision B.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Victoria County, Subdivision B’s included.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Victoria County, Subdivision B is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Victoria County, Subdivision B.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Victoria County, Subdivision B
Is Victoria County, Subdivision B at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Victoria County, Subdivision B has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Victoria County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Victoria County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Victoria County, Subdivision B?
About $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Victoria County, Subdivision B.
Is radon a problem in Victoria County, Subdivision B?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 92 homes tested in Victoria County, Subdivision B’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Victoria County, Subdivision B flood?
Nothing is listed for Victoria County, Subdivision B on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).