Rowan County, NC Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Sec. 9-52 of the Rowan County Code sets the specific construction standards that apply once a base flood elevation has been established under Sec. 9-7 or Sec. 9-54. Subsection (1) requires new construction and substantial improvement of any residential structure, including manufactured homes, to have the reference level, including basement, elevated no lower than the regulatory flood protection elevation defined in Sec. 9-5. Subsection (2) applies a parallel rule to nonresidential buildings but allows floodproofing as an alternative: structures in zones A or AE may be floodproofed to the regulatory flood protection elevation instead of elevated, provided the space below that elevation is watertight, using components able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and buoyancy.

Manufactured homes get a further rule under Sec. 9-52(3): the chassis must be supported by reinforced piers or an engineered foundation, and if the chassis sits more than thirty-six inches above grade, an engineering certification is required. These construction elevation rules sit alongside the county's hurricane and storm evacuation planning: Sec. 9-52(3)(d) requires an evacuation plan, filed with and approved by the floodplain administrator and the local emergency management coordinator, for any new or substantially improved manufactured home park in a flood-prone area. Sec. 9-52(7) separately requires a removal plan for temporary nonresidential structures in the floodplain, specifying removal at least seventy-two hours before a hurricane makes landfall or immediately upon a flood warning.