Hurricane / Windstorm / Snow
During the winter months, severe weather conditions often occur in this area including heavy snowfalls, ice storms, and severe winds. Long-term power outages resulting from these conditions can cause severe hardship.

During the hurricane season, Nova Scotia often receives the tail end of these furies. The procession of hurricanes up the Atlantic coast in the summer of 1995 demonstrates how helpless we are to the whims of nature.

Flood
Damage by wind and snow can be complicated by the action of our local tides. During flooding, the low areas are the most vunerable and can result in houses being completely destroyed and basements requiring extensive repairs due to damage by salt water.

Fire
The Annapolis Royal Fire Department responds to approximately 80 calls a year. The majority of these alarms are considered minor, i.e. chimney and grass fires. However, there is potential for a large-scale fire in the downtown core and in other large buildings located in the Town. Some of these buildings, if not physically connected, are in close proximity to each other. Many of these buildings are older, and their construction (wood frame) makes for easy fire-spread.

Explosion
Some restaurants in Annapolis Royal use propane gas as their principle means of food preparation. Though the use of propane under normal circumstances is safe, accidents can rupture storage tanks, valves, or feed lines. An out-of-control vehicle in the back lanes of Annapolis Royal could cause an explosion. An accident involving a propane delivery truck could prove catastrophic.

Construction Accident
Heavy snowfalls, frequent changes in occupancy, and building fatigue might place undue stress on buildings and contribute to their collapse. Other disastrous occurrences, such as, flood, fire, or explosion might jeopardize the stability of any structure.

Transportation Accidents Involving Hazardous Materials / Road
Annapolis Royal is quite a distance from a major highway, but this does not mean that the Town would be unaffected if there was a major accident involving dangerous substances. Uncontrolled, these substances may pose a serious threat to public health and safety.

Transportation / Water
A spill in the Bay of Fundy from a marine disaster could wash into the Annapolis Basin and area, creating an environmental problem. Dangerous cargo (i.e. hazardous goods) on a ship in distress could threaten the Town with a toxic cloud since the prevailing winds generally blow into Town from this direction. Fortunately, we are not on the world's major shipping lanes, therefore the chance of this event is slight.

Transportation / Air
Although there are no major airports in the area, but it can been seen that there are a number of planes in the skies over the Town on any given day. There are also many personal aircraft in the area, and in recent years some of these planes have had problems and one has made a crash landing.

Power Failure
There are many situations that might result in the cessation of power, including an act of terrorism. However severe winds or a winter ice storm are more likely causes. Power outages can last several days or even weeks. In cold weather this would cause considerable hardship to the community.

Epidemic
With the weakening effects of antibiotics on bacteria, and the ease with which disease can be carried throughout the world by air travel, the potential for an epidemic increases daily. The near release of Ebola-Zaire into the environment at Reston, Virginia, in 1989 shows how vulnerable we really are; this virus was transmitted as an airborne agent, similar to the Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19 (20 million deaths), or Asian Flu of 1968-69. Fortunately, the Reston Strain only affected monkeys. Even more recently (Summer 1995), the Ebola Virus in Zaire caused public health concern worldwide.