Floodplain FAQs

Please see the NC Flood Risk Information System or Pender County GIS to find out.

Please see the Flood Risk Information System: https://fris.nc.gov/fris/Home.aspx?ST=NC.

An elevation certificate is the FEMA form which is filled out by a licensed surveyor, that documents the existing elevation of a property, any structures, and associated machinery and equipment servicing the building(s). The form may be required before a Floodplain Development Permit can be issued. It informs the property owner at what elevation a structure must be raised.

Contact a licensed professional surveyor.

An elevation certificate is required for most development within any regulated flood zones. Examples include building a new structure, an addition to an existing structure, and installing electrical and mechanical equipment.

The Floodway is the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation. Communities must regulate development in these floodways to ensure there are no increases in upstream flood elevations. When developing in a designated floodway, a No-Rise Analysis is required. The No-Rise Analysis must show the proposed development will not increase the base flood water surface elevation. The analysis must be submitted and approved before a Floodplain Development Permit can be issued.

Substantial Damage means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to it’s pre-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Repetitive loss shall be considered in determining substantial damage. Substantial Improvement means any combination of repairs, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, taking place during any one-year period for which the cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the “start of construction” of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred “substantial damage,” regardless of the actual repair work performed. If a structure is determined to be substantially damaged or substantially improved, the entire structure must come into compliance with all floodplain development requirements including elevation requirements. If a house that is not elevated to the required flood protection elevation is substantially damaged or substantially improved it will need to be elevated.

If you are doing work within a VE Flood Zone or along some of the rivers and streams or around potential wetland areas, you may need additional permits from the Division of Coastal Management (CAMA permit) or the US Army Corps of Engineers.