http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane's present intensity. This is used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast from a hurricane landfall. Wind speed is the determining factor in the scale, as storm surge values are highly dependent on the slope of the continental shelf in the landfall region. Note that all winds are using the U.S. 1-minute average.
Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr). Storm surge generally 4-5 ft above normal. No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage. Hurricanes Allison of 1995 and Danny of 1997 were Category One hurricanes at peak intensity.
Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt or 154-177 km/hr). Storm surge generally 6-8 feet above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. Hurricane Bonnie of 1998 was a Category Two hurricane when it hit the North Carolina coast, while Hurricane Georges of 1998 was a Category Two Hurricane when it hit the Florida Keys and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required. Hurricanes Roxanne of 1995 and Fran of 1996 were Category Three hurricanes at landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and in North Carolina, respectively.
Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph (114-135 kt or 210-249 km/hr). Storm surge generally 13-18 ft above normal. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than 10 ft above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 6 miles (10 km). Hurricane Luis of 1995 was a Category Four hurricane while moving over the Leeward Islands. Hurricanes Felix and Opal of 1995 also reached Category Four status at peak intensity.
Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destructon of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Hurricane Mitch of 1998 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity over the western Caribbean. Hurricane Gilbert of 1988 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity and is one of the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclones of record.
I am reading about Fran; this hurricane is sounding more and more like her.
Fran trashed East in September '96
Fran slammed into the North Carolina coast east of Cape Fear around 8 p.m., Sept. 5, with howling wind gusts up to 120 mph, smashing trees, power lines and coastal homes from the South Carolina border to Surf City, N.C. Its 12-foot storm surge carried away a temporary North Topsail Beach police station and town hall, housed in a double-wide trailer since Hurricane Bertha's rampage across the same area in July. Extensive flooding struck the coast around Wrightsville Beach just up the coast from Cape fear.
Fran's top winds quickly dropped to 100 mph after it slammed into Cape Fear, N.C., but the storm still caused damage on its way north to Wilmington and Raleigh. After submerging beach towns, ripping steeples off churches and snapping trees like sticks in its terrorizing path through the Carolinas, a weakened Hurricane Fran turned into a tropical storm when it winds dropped below 74 mph early Sept. 6, while swirling into Virginia.
Gale force winds between 39 and 73 mph lashed the Chesapeake Bay and heaped water into the Potomac River around the nation's Capitol where it backed up into Georgetown and Old Town, Virginia. Tree limbs crashed to the ground as far north as Maryland and tornadoes briefly spun up in parts of Virginia.
As Tropical Depression Fran chugged into north Virginia, the danger shifted from winds and coastal flooding to torrential rain. Tropical rain bands spiraling into the Appalachian Mountains were lifted by the sloping terrain, enhancing rainfall from North Carolina to Pennsylvania.
Thundering rain of up to 15 inches deluged interior North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, bringing dangerous river flooding to much of the mid-Atlantic.
At least 34 people were killed by Fran and damage estimates topped $3.2 billion dollars.
Looking back, Fran became a tropical depression on Aug. 24, then briefly weakened before regenerating into a minimal category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson damage potential scale with 75 mph winds. Fran threatened the Lesser Antilles on Aug. 29-30, as a weak hurricane. After the storm's center was relocated by a hurricane hunter plane farther north than thought, Fran missed the islands, weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 65 mph, then regained hurricane strength while traveling toward the Bahamas.
Before landfall, Hurricane Fran was about as large as Hurricane Hugo, with sustained hurricane force winds over 75 mph extending out as much as 140 miles from its center. But its winds weren't nearly as strong, a relief to North Carolina residents. Fran struck as a "major" category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale .
With winds reaching 115 mph, Hurricane Fran has become the third "major" hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Bertha was the first and Edouard was the second. A "major" hurricane has winds exceeding 110 mph.
Hurricane Fran's thrashing of North Carolina only aggravated the state's problems caused by numerous weather disasters in 1996.