Hurricane Fran in North Carolina, September 5-6, 1996.
Hurricane Fran in North Carolina, September 5-6, 1996.
(4478 K)
Marshall, R. D.
NIST GCR 98-734; 56 p. January 1998.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB98-142193
Keywords:
building technology; codes; standards; hurricanes;
natural disasters; structural engineering; wind damage;
wind engineering; wind loads
Abstract:
This report describes the surface wind speeds and
structural damage caused by Hurricane Fran during its
passage across North Carolina and Virginia on 5-6
September 1996. Fran was a category 3 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson scale, and estimated maximum sustained
wind speeds were approximately 36 m/s at Kure Beach, NC,
directly north of Cape Fear, the point of landfall.
Gust speeds of up to 48 m/s were registered by the C-MAN
station at Frying Pan Shoals, located approximately 60
km south-southeast of Cape Fear. Wind damage was
extensive over the eastern sections of North Carolina
and was caused primarily by falling trees. However, when
the probable maximum wind speeds in Hurricane Fran are
compared with 50-yr MRI speeds listed in
performance-based design standards such as ANSI A58.1 or
ASCE 7, it is clear that Fran was substantially less
than a design event. There were 36 fatalities in
Hurricane Fran, 23 of them in North Carolina.
Approximately 4,000 power poles were snapped off in
North Carolina and 1,600 km of electrical distribution
lines were down. The resulting outages affected more
than 2 million customers in South Carolina, North
Carolina and Virginia. In terms of losses, North
Carolina suffered approximately $5 billion in damages,
making Fran one of the more destructive hurricanes in
recent years. Hurricane Fran caused extensive flooding
in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Ohio. Damage in Virginia and adjacent
states was due in large part to local flooding rather
than to the direct effects of wind.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899