Surry County, NC Hurricane Preparedness: Storm Debris (2026)

Surry County Code § 154.017-07(F) requires anyone seeking a floodplain development permit for a temporary structure in a special flood hazard area to submit a written removal plan to the Floodplain Administrator before the permit issues. The plan must specify a time limit for the temporary use, capped at one year on-site; name the individual responsible, with address and phone number, for physically removing the structure; and state the time frame before an approaching hazard at which the structure will actually come down, which the code sets at a minimum of 72 hours before hurricane landfall or immediately upon a flood warning notification.

Applicants must also attach a copy of a contract or similar instrument with a trucking company guaranteeing removal equipment will be available when needed, and must designate, with supporting documentation, a specific location outside the special flood hazard area to which the structure will be moved. This removal-plan requirement sits inside the county's broader flood-hazard-reduction standards in § 154.017-06 and § 154.017-07, which separately require anchoring, flood-resistant materials and elevation for permanent construction; the temporary-structure rule exists because a structure left in place through a hurricane becomes floodwater debris and a hazard to downstream property.

The Floodplain Administrator reviews and approves the plan in writing before issuing the permit, and enforcement of an unapproved or unexecuted removal plan runs through the county's general zoning violation and penalty provisions in § 154.005-10 and § 154.005-11.