Ernesto rolls past South Carolina

MEG KINNARD

Associated Press

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Tourists began returning to the beaches here Friday morning, as the sun broke through the clouds just after 10 a.m. Families strolled along the calm surf, and a lone fisherman was spotted angling for the catch of the day off the Cherry Grove pier.

Gov. Mark Sanford announced plans to survey the northern South Carolina coast Friday and hold a news conference at 1 p.m. to encourage tourists to keep their travel plans to the coast.

Many tourists seem to have already made that decision. The Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau reported business appears normal.

"There were some cancellations before the storm," said bureau spokeswoman Katie Chapman. "But now I've heard that a few places are completely booked for the weekend. ... We were worried at the beginning of the week, but it all turned out OK."

A hurricane watch and tropical storm warning posted for the Grand Strand was lifted at 5 a.m. by the National Hurricane Center.

Horry County initially reported flooding in a few low-lying areas, minor power outages and a few trees down, but no major damage.

In one of those areas in North Myrtle Beach, brothers-in-law John Judge and John Axelrod, both of Baltimore, waded through knee-deep water in a street bend. Several yards from where the men were standing, a Ford Mustang sat stranded in water that came up nearly over the vehicle's wheels.

A drainage pipe had been installed to carry any excess water from that area down to the ocean, said resident Jerry Scott, of North Myrtle Beach. "The drainpipe didn't do its job," he said. "I think it just failed its first test."

The storm stayed offshore of South Carolina, moving inland shortly before midnight Thursday near Long Beach, N.C., about 30 miles away from the South Carolina state line. Ernesto's winds were 70 mph at landfall, just short of hurricane strength. It began slowly weakening as it moved further inland.

By 11 a.m. Friday, Ernesto had weakened to a tropical depression as it moved north into Virginia, the National Hurricane Center said.

On Thursday night, the streets of North Myrtle Beach were unusually quiet, especially for the days leading up to the Labor Day weekend, typically this area's last hurrah before settling into the fall and winter months. Scarcely a soul could be found outside any of the area's many hotels, and even motorists were hard to come by in the driving wind and rain.

Several dozen people gathered at an oceanside Irish pub to wait out the storm over warm food and cold drinks. The mood inside Molly Darcy's was relatively festive, as customers huddled by large windows as water seeped in to watch as sheets of rain blew by and hanging plant baskets twirled rapidly in the wind.

Just before 10 p.m., the storm was at its worst. Lightning was nearly constant, as one exterior door blew off its hinges and across the parking lot. Myrtle Beach reported a wind gust of 46 mph and North Myrtle Beach had nearly 7 inches of rain.

About 30 minutes later, the rain and wind subsided and people began leaving the bar.

To the south, Ernesto dumped torrential rains, inundating Charleston streets prone to flooding. More than 6 1/2 inches of rain was reported Thursday in Mount Pleasant.

Conditions should clear along the coast on Friday and forecasters say the Labor Day weekend should be beautiful with highs in the 80s and only a small chance of a passing thunderstorm.