There was a pause Sunday as Grand Strand residents caught their breath before the real work of recovery from Hurricane Charley began.

Continuing rain delayed some from picking up limbs and removing splintered trees and debris hurled by gale-force winds.

Instead many gathered with friends, held abbreviated church services and kept their eyes on Tropical Storm Earl and Hurricane Danielle looming in the Atlantic Ocean.

Wal-Mart Supercenter and Food Lion in Georgetown opened Sunday after the businesses shut down Saturday for Charley.

Georgetown resident John Hilliard shopped Sunday for supplies at Wal-Mart. He said electricity was restored on one side of his neighborhood, near Georgetown Memorial Hospital.

Many restaurants and grocery stores along the Grand Strand reopened Saturday night after the storm passed through and officials reopened roads.

After slamming into Florida on Friday, Charley came ashore again Saturday in McClellanville, just south of Georgetown County, with winds of 85 mph, leaving behind flooding, minor structural damage, downed trees and thousands without power. No serious injuries or deaths in South Carolina have been blamed on the storm.

So far, there are no damage estimates for Brunswick County, N.C., or the Grand Strand.

Rain drenched North Carolina's eastern counties Sunday as electric crews rushed to return power to customers and tree crews and residents picked up debris left by three days of storms.

Steady, sometimes heavy rain fell from the Raleigh area to the ocean, causing minor flooding in some areas and raising the Neuse River just to its flood stage in Clayton.

Some Georgetown churches suspended services Sunday because they had no electricity.

Others held combination Sunday school and worship services, with smaller groups mostly dressed in casual clothes.

"We combined church and Sunday school today," said Christie Peterson, whose husband, Schuyler Peterson, leads Lakewood Baptist Church in Georgetown. "Today, we're just going to thank God that we're safe and that God watched out for us."

Lakewood's lawn was scattered with broken limbs, and the top of a pine tree was blown on the roof of the church, Peterson said. A small group of worshippers listened to Scripture in a darkened Sunday school room.

"We didn't know who would show up," Christie Peterson said. "The pastor and I dressed in the dark and came to church early."

At Georgetown Pentecostal Holiness Church, the crowd of worshippers was expected to be smaller than usual, said Eddie Holmes, who runs the church soundboard.

The church had electricity, but most of the congregation lived in areas that still were dark.

Some members of Earles Pentecostal Holiness Church came to Georgetown after services at the Andrews church were canceled. A large portion of Andrews remained without power Sunday morning.

Most businesses in Georgetown reopened Sunday, including some restaurants that shut down before Hurricane Charley.

Georgetown's waterfront restaurants remained dark Saturday night.

Tony's Famous Pizza, among the few local businesses still open, had a long line of customers waiting for a hot meal.

The Big Tuna and Dogwood Cafe, both bars on Front Street, closed after they could not get power to their businesses.

The Red Cross on Sunday was helping families who had trees through their houses.

"We had one fellow in Sampit that had a tree fall through his mobile home," interim Red Cross Director John Kiesling said. "We are putting him up tonight, so that gives him a chance to regroup."

Others coped on their own or sought shelter with relatives.

Leisa Mitchell's Conway mobile home lost a significant portion of its roof during the hurricane. Only one room, she says, still has a functioning roof covering it.

"It's terrifying. My kids are very terrified because of this situation," Mitchell said. "I've experienced nothing like this."

Several more inches of rain fell Sunday, damaging Mitchell's home further and complicating some cleanup efforts.

Lanny Rose, a resident of Palmetto Pointe Apartment Homes, near the back gate of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, watched as a crew cut the remains of several trees Sunday afternoon.

"We were looking out the window, and the storm just took them down," she said. "We were lucky that it went the other way; my daughter has a tree through her house."

Rip currents also were a danger Sunday along the Grand Strand, said National Weather Service meteorologist Reid Hawkins. However, the bad weather kept most people off the beach.

Today, Hawkins said, the rip current risk at area beaches will have dwindled greatly.

The post-hurricane conditions were a mixed blessing to those hoping to catch some dinner.

Blackfish Charter Boat captain Larry Long said fishing is usually bad because the water is stirred up and the fish can't see.

But post-storm conditions do make it easier to shrimp, because they are stirred up and swimming around, he said.

It's too early to predict whether Tropical Storm Earl or Hurricane Danielle will be a threat to the Grand Strand, but the National Weather Service should have a better idea by Thursday or Friday.

"We're going to have to wait and see. [Hurricane] Danielle is pretty far out there," Hawkins said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.