Remembering Hurricane Fran

North Carolina experienced a rough hurricane season in 1996. First, Bertha made landfall as a Category Two storm between Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Island in mid July.

As Labor Day approached, another dangerous hurricane named Edouard menaced the Tar Heel State before heading out to sea. Just behind Edouard was Fran, another Cape Verde hurricane that set her eyes on North Carolina and did not swerve out to sea.

On the morning of September 5th, roads were full of cars streaming away from the Carolina coast as the Category Three storm was expected to make landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The storm did make landfall near Bald Head Island on the evening of the fifth with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.

Many residents from places like Wrightsville Beach, Topsail Island and Carolina Beach had headed inland to the Research Triangle area and places like Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Cary. During the early morning hours of the 6th, evacuees holed up in the hotels of the Triangle area watched as colorful radar displays portrayed the situation: Fran was heading right for them.

The storm brought unprecedented rain and wind to the Triangle area, with up to 9.5 inches of rain and hurricane force winds that snapped thousands of trees and knocked out power to one million people.
As the torrential rains continued through the night, the waters of Crabtree Creek rose rapidly, flooding the huge Crabtree Valley Mall and the Sheraton Hotel, where automobiles floated in six feet of water in the lobby.

Damage totaled $6 billion from the Carolinas through the Mid Atlantic and westward into Ohio.

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