Hilton Head Island's beaches took the brunt of the impact of the remnants of Tropical Storm Jeanne as it passed over the Lowcountry.

After slamming into Florida on Saturday night as a Category 3 hurricane, Jeanne was downgraded to a tropical depression by Monday afternoon as it moved through Georgia and tropical storm warnings along the South Carolina coast south of the Santee River were discontinued.

Scott Liggett, Hilton Head town engineer, said the storm-induced waves rolled up beach matting, tore down some fencing and dug into dunes.

"Folks hate to see the dunes go ... but the dunes there act as a shock absorber," he said. "They're protecting the upland properties."

Liggett said the town will do a full survey of the beach later in the week, but he said an observation Monday showed the dunes along North Forest Beach were eroded by the waves. The waves removed sand to create what appears to be a wall at the edge of the dune.

Away from the beaches, the storm didn't do too much more damage in southern Beaufort County.

A few large trees came down, but mostly small limbs and leaves were scattered on driveways, lawns and roads Monday morning. Area emergency officials received reports of trees and limbs down along roadways, and scattered power outages were reported Monday evening. The traffic lights at Wilborn Road on Hilton Head Island went out around 6:30 p.m., and Beaufort County Sheriff's Office deputies had to direct traffic until the lights were reactivated.

Other areas of the state didn't fare as well as the Lowcountry. The storm brought torrential rains, gusty winds and tornadoes that damaged mobile homes and uprooted trees.

Five people were taken to Clarendon Memorial Hospital for treatment for injuries after a tornado set down in the Clarendon County community of Alcolu.

Three mobile homes were destroyed and five damaged, said Anthony Mack, the county emergency service coordinator.

A tornado reported early Monday evening in Newberry damaged half a dozen homes, destroying one, and brought down trees and power lines, the National Weather Service reported.

In Lexington County, just west of Columbia, Sheriff James Metts offered shelter at his offices for those living in mobile homes worried about tornadoes.

Jeanne was projected to cross the Piedmont between Columbia and Greenville early today.

There also were reports of trees down in Jasper County. Forecasters warned gusty winds could topple trees especially in areas with ground still saturated from the passage of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan earlier this month.

Lowcountry residents did experience power outages because of the storm.

Officials with Palmetto Electric said about 2,000 homes lost power Sunday night or Monday for less than an hour on average due to the weather in Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties.

The utility's largest outage left about 877 customers in the Spanish Wells area without service for about an hour when a tree fell on a line at about 6:36 p.m. The next largest outage left about 780 people in the Point Comfort area of Hilton Head Island without power for about 45 minutes when a tree fell on a line along Palmetto Bay Road at about 6:10 a.m., said Jimmy Baker, Palmetto Electric spokesman.

South Carolina Electric and Gas reported about 300 homes on Lady's Island without power for about 30 minutes Sunday night after a tree limb fell on a power line. About a dozen homes throughout Beaufort and Jasper counties were affected by localized outages caused by the wind Sunday and Monday, said David Tempel, the company's southern district manager.

About 3,000 SCE&G customers were without power at about 7 p.m. in the Hardeeville, Beaufort, Hampton, Allendale and Fairfax areas. By 8:30 p.m. around 1,500 did not have power, primarily in Allendale and in the Beaufort and Garden's Corner areas, said Robin Montgomery, a utility spokesman.

William Winn, Beaufort County Emergency Management director, said the storm hadn't been as damaging as predicted.

"We didn't get all we really expected," Winn said Monday. "Fortunately, a lot of it's gone around us."

Winn said even through the area has been threatened by many storms this season, and none has had a major impact on the area, residents still are taking the threats seriously.

"People respond to what they perceive as a threat," he said. "They're going to do what they can to protect themselves."

The county's Emergency Operations Center was closed at 5 p.m. Monday, and Jasper County officials said their operations center also shut down.

County schools were closed Monday in anticipation of the storm. Thirteen of the district's 26 schools are on a year-round schedule and already were closed Monday. Makeup days for the schools that did miss a day will be determined in the next few weeks, district spokesman John Williams said.

Beaufort County officials also canceled Monday's County Council meeting and rescheduled it for 4 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Hilton Head library.

About 1.5 inches of rain fell throughout Beaufort County between Sunday morning and Monday morning, according to the state climatology office and several Hilton Head Island water utilities.

The midisland utility recorded 1.19 inches between midnight and 5 p.m. Monday, while the north-end utility recorded 1.53 inches between 8 a.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Charleston predicts a 30 percent chance of rain early today in Beaufort County with the chance of rain dwindling throughout the day, said meteorologist Jaime Ridenour. Winds should be 15 to 25 mph throughout the day with highs in the mid-80s.