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print thisStorm heads for S.C.
From staff and wire reports
Tropical Storm Ernesto fizzled to a tropical depression as it trekked across Florida on Wednesday but was expected to pass out to sea and regain tropical storm strength before making a second landfall along the S.C. coast.
Gov. Mark Sanford said the state would not require any mandatory or voluntary evacuations but urged coastal residents, including those on barrier islands in mobile homes and in low-lying areas, to pay attention to the storm.
"The storm isn't here yet. There's still a lot of uncertainty," he said. "Let's hope it doesn't intensify."
Sanford said there is time to order evacuations if the storm intensifies after entering the Atlantic Ocean. State officials will formally re-assess the situation by 6 p.m. today.
A hurricane watch for the S.C. coast was lowered Wednesday but a tropical storm warning was issued in its place.
"If it were up to me, I'd be out of here today," said Mike Bland, 57, of Owensboro, Ky., walking along the sands in Myrtle Beach.
Bland and his wife Judy still planned to leave Thursday, well before landfall. "After seeing what happened last year, you have got to watch the news on these things," he said.
The storm, after spinning across Florida, was projected to re-emerge over the Atlantic late Wednesday.
"Ernesto has the potential to re-intensify slightly once it moves over the Atlantic waters tonight," the 5 p.m. Hurricane Center advisory said.
The tropical storm warning was extended northward to Cape Lookout, N.C., and means tropical storm conditions (winds between 39 and 73 mph) are expected in the area within 24 hours.
Ernesto is forecast to have winds of about 55 mph when it makes landfall Thursday. Ernesto's main impact on the Carolinas is expected to be heavy rain and a threat of flooding. Another threat will be tornadoes.
The projected path of the storm has not changed much and keeps Ernesto on a path close to the Grand Strand, said Reid Hawkins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.
Nearly 250 National Guard units remain in place in Walterboro and Mullins should they be needed. How long they remain in place also depends on the track of the storm. Officials are set to re-assess the deployment tonight as well.
Officials did ask some Charleston County residents to begin a voluntary evacuation.
Ernesto is forecast to restrengthen into a tropical storm over the warm water of the Atlantic Ocean. It was downgraded to a depression Wednesday with maximum winds around 35 mph.
Forecasters are expecting 3 to 6 inches of rain for Georgetown and Horry counties. The storm's stronger right side would hit the Grand Strand harder than some areas if the current scenario plays out, Hawkins said.
The Weather Service also is concerned over the possibility of tornadoes, which could spawn in the storm's aftermath. Hawkins said tornadoes are more likely to occur in the corridor between Georgetown and Dillon counties. Locals can also expect a surf of up to eight feet and a storm surge of three feet.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Ernesto was still over Florida.
Ernesto failed to strengthen Tuesday, as it moved northward from Cuba to south Florida, but meteorologists think it will become a more formidable force when it slides off the north Florida coast later Wednesday.
State officials downgraded their alert status and will keep the Emergency Operations Center open until the storm passes.
"It looks like rain is going to be more of the issue, especially with it hitting around high tide," Horry County spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said.
Georgetown County School District canceled all classes and closed district offices for Thursday. Schools in Horry and Brunswick (N.C.) will operate on a normal daytime schedule. Events and activities after 6 p.m. in Horry County are canceled.
Even before Sanford said he would not call for an evacuation, Georgetown County officials had word that the storm was not expected to be as bad as earlier predicted.
Emergency Management Director Lewis Dugan said 50 mph winds were expected and unless the storm increased in intensity, there was no need to plan for evacuations. The emergency operations center would not be open overnight because there was no need, he also said.
That did not mean there would be no effects from the storm, Dugan said. As of mid-morning Wednesday, it was expected to arrive at mid-tide but would still be lingering when high tide came. The coast is experiencing lunar tides about two feet higher than average, so any push from Ernesto that makes the water even higher will cause beach erosion, Dugan said.
Tropical storm winds can still blow down power lines, so outages could be a result of Ernesto's passage through the area. Tree crews were at work in Georgetown Wednesday trimming branches around power lines throughout the city.
"We're monitoring because of its potential; we're taking it seriously," Conway City Administrator Bill Graham said. "Hopefully, it turns out to be not a severe storm for us and it'll be a good experience and drill for us in going through our disaster-preparedness plan."
Tourism officials monitored the storm's movements and anticipated canceled vacations, but no major fallout had occurred, they said.
Locally, officials predict Ernesto could dump up seven inches of rain and erode portions of the beaches in Cherry Grove and Garden City Beach because storm surge is expected to be up to four feet, Bourcier said.
If damaging winds and rain accompany Ernesto's visit to the area, utility companies say they're ready to respond to outages.
"A lot can change with a storm, so it's important to keep in mind it's a tropical storm at this point, and we expect it can cause a lot of heavy winds and rain, which cause power outages," said Laura Varn, spokeswoman for Santee Cooper.
State climatologist Hope Mizzell said areas in the storm's path could use the rainfall but said a quickly moving storm may not help the drought much.
"You don't want too much rain too fast," she said. "That isn't a solution because of the runoff potential. You need a soaking rain."
In Myrtle Beach, Larry and Wilma West of Winston Salem, N.C., weren't worried about Ernesto and planned to keep their vacation schedule and leave on Friday.
But they were also ready to heed Sanford and other officials.
"If we heard (him) right now and he said 'Get out,' we'd get out now," Larry Wilson said.
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