That said, weather forecasters are painfully aware that the state's $16 billion tourism industry is South Carolina's largest industry and the eight-county coastal region leads the state jobs, revenue and taxes.
Hurricane forecasting was applied to save lives. Forecasting has improved over the years, and this year the National Hurricane Center in Miami, part of the National Weather Service, implemented a five-day forecast, replacing the three-day forecast.
For years, a fear of hurricane forecasters and emergency personnel has been the complacency of people in the face of a storm. The rapid growth of coastal regions along the Gulf and Eastern Seaboard has forced public officials to develop ways to get people out of harm's way before a storm makes landfall.
Max Mayfield, National Hurricane Center director, told The Associated Press recently that improved forecasting is a result of a number of elements, including "better observations, better and faster computers, improved computer programs to model the weather and a band of increasingly skilled forecasters."
All of these elements combined to make the center's forecast for Isabel on target. This year's five-day forecasts were more accurate by a long shot. Isabel's predicted location five days out was 166 miles. In the eight years between 1994 and 2002, the three-day forecast was off by 200 miles and in the previous decade it was off by 300 miles.
Myrtle Beach-area business owners are among a group who will meet with National Weather Service officials next month to discuss returning to the three-day forecast. They must walk a fine line for several reasons.
When one looks at the bottom line, life always should be more important than money. But convincing the weather service to abandon the five-day forecast won't prevent people for getting news about storms. Private business, namely The Weather Channel, will provide information on approaching storms long before they reach a distance five days from the U.S. mainland.
The five-day forecast, too, may benefit business as much as some think it hurts. The accurate forecast for Isabel may have helped people decide whether to visit an area southeast of the storm's path, Beaufort and Hilton Head Island for instance, but probably Myrtle Beach, too.
Forecast accuracy has its problems, though. People come to expect this same accuracy more often, Mayfield warns. Most hurricanes move more erratically than Isabel and are harder to predict. Many coastal residents and tourists may become even more complacent than they are today. Storms don't always move a degree or 2 or 10 to the north.
At next months meeting, business people should keep in mind that it is a fine line they walk. The bottom line isn't always about money. The five-day forecast gives more time to plan -- and save lives.