Hurricane (Typhoon) in Pender, North Carolina

Hurricane Fran's eye moved across Pender County. On Topsail Island, a 12 ft storm surge caused 40 feet of beach erosion and wiped out dunes as overwash destroyed most of the first row of beach houses and heavily damaged the rest. Damage to Surfside Beach and Topsail Beach was $112 million. The rest of the county had over $50 million structural damage, with 161 buildings destroyed and 585 more sustaining major damage, including the roof blown off the county courthouse. Marketable timber loss was $37 million. Two people died - a woman found on a mattress in the marsh and a man floating in the Scotts Hill Marina Boat Basin. Evacuation shelters housed more than 600 people.