23 years ago, Hurricane Fran made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- As Hurricane Dorian pushes through the North Carolina coast, many are remembering the 23rd anniversary of Hurricane Fran, which made landfall near Cape Fear around 8:30 p.m.
Fran made landfall as a Category 3 storm, and it hit North Carolina just two months after Hurricane Bertha.
Fran had sustained wind of 115 miles per hour when it made landfall, but after six hours it had weakened to Category 1 storm and after 12 hours it was a tropical depression moving over Virginia.
SEE ALSO: Fran survivors reflect on storm, lessons learned
As much as 10 inches of rain fell in the Wilmington and Cape Fear area. The heaviest rain followed Fran's path from Wilmington through Raleigh and into Virginia.
North Carolina saw the worst damage in Fran. The highest wind, 137 mph, was recorded in Wilmington.
A 12-foot storm surge washed away North Topsail Beach police station--which was in a trailer at the time because Bertha wiped out the original building.
Several piers off the North Carolina coast were damaged or destroyed, including Emerald Isle fishing pier and Surf City fishing pier.
Surf City pier was rebuilt a year later. It was Topsail Island's first ocean pier, originally built in 1948.
The eye of the storm actually went right through Raleigh, causing more than $900 million in damage in Wake County alone.
When all was said and done with Hurricane Fran, 26 people had died (14 in North Carolina) and more than $1 billion worth of property had been destroyed.
