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Risk & Response

Surry County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 49.1 Relatively Moderate

71,425
Population
17
Departments
26
Stations
23
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.67
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
28th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.94
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
26th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$16.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
54th highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$236
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
71st highest of 100

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Surry County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 74% of the life-safety total.

Surry County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $16.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Surry County ranks 848th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1836th for life safety per 100k residents, 1027th for property loss, and 2441st for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Surry County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Surry County.

Talk to us about Surry County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

63%
34%
Property (buildings): $16.9M (62.7%)
Life safety: $9.2M (34.2%)
Agriculture: $849K (3.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $26,942,356 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$6.8M
Strong Wind
$1.1M
Tornado
$649K
Lightning
$170K
Earthquake
$127K
Hail
$119K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$14.5M
Tornado
$785K
Earthquake
$518K
Hurricane
$343K
Ice Storm
$335K
Strong Wind
$207K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Surry County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

12%
82%
Combination: 12% (2)
Volunteer: 82% (14)
Unreported: 6% (1)
Residents per Station
2,747
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
36.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 17 departments registered in NERIS Public for Surry County, NC. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Surry County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 17 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Mount Airy Fire Department 10,472 $1.4M Relatively High 2
Franklin Community Volunteer Fire Department Inc. 7,461 $1.0M Relatively Moderate 2
Central Surry Volunteer Fire Department 6,068 $734.0K Relatively High 2
Pilot Knob Volunteer Fire Department 5,933 $693.2K Relatively Moderate 1
Bannertown Volunteer Fire Department 5,251 $615.6K Relatively Moderate 2
South Surry Volunteer Fire Department 5,005 $571.5K Relatively Low 2
Elkin Fire Department 3,894 $532.8K Relatively High 1
White Plains Fire Department 4,014 $531.3K Relatively Low 1
Skull Camp Fire & Rescue 3,846 $480.3K Relatively Low 3
Pine Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 3,066 $383.3K Relatively Moderate 2
State Road Volunteer Fire Department 3,625 $375.4K Relatively Moderate 1
Westfield Volunteer Fire Department Inc. 2,969 $316.3K Relatively Low 1
Mountain Park Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 1,749 $258.5K Relatively Moderate 2
Jot-Um-Down Volunteer Fire Department 1,917 $232.2K Relatively Moderate 1
Shoals Fire Department 1,889 $218.3K Very Low 1
Dobson Fire Department 1,561 $188.9K Relatively High 1
Pleasant Hill Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 2,357 $132.4K Relatively Moderate 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

16.8%
Poverty Rate
20.6%
Age 65+
19.1%
Disability Rate
10.8%
Uninsured
51.1%
Pre-1980 Housing
23.0%
Mobile Homes
11.5%
Vacancy Rate
3.5%
Wood Heat
$58,058
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

12
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo