COLUMBIA, S.C. - The first name in South Carolina weather this week is Ivan, as forecasters predict the remnants of the hurricane currently threatening Cuba will bring heavy rains, severe storms and gusty winds to the state later this week.

With much of South Carolina already soaked from what was left of Hurricane Frances last week, emergency officials worry it won't take much to push rivers out of their banks and pull trees from the moist soil.

"There's no question a lot of rain has fallen in the state. We plan on watching this storm very closely," state Emergency Management Division spokesman John Legare said.

It's still too early to pinpoint exactly how much rain could fall or which areas of the state will be hardest hit. Ivan could move farther west or east and spare the state the worst weather.

If Ivan moves as expected, most of the storms should come Thursday or Friday as it passes to the west of the state.

Much of South Carolina remains soaked from Frances. Worst hit was the western Upstate, where 10 inches of rain fell in some areas. Most of the state received at least 3 inches of rain from the slow moving storms.

Several rivers remain under flood warnings nearly a week after the storms ended.

All this means it won't take much rain to cause similar problems, forecasters warn.

If Ivan moves to the west, it would put South Carolina in the part of the storm that can produce tornadoes.

What remained of Frances caused a record-breaking tornado outbreak in South Carolina last week. The four National Weather Service offices that cover the state reported 37 tornadoes in two days. South Carolina averages just 12 tornadoes a year.

The previous largest outbreak of twisters in the state was 22 when the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl moved past in August 1994, according to the state climatology office.

If Ivan comes close enough, South Carolina could break the yearly record of 54 tornadoes set in 1995. Preliminary figures show 47 twisters have touched down here in this year.

Most of the tornadoes last week were not very strong. But the weather service estimates winds in one Kershaw County twister were at least 158 mph and winds in tornadoes in Chesterfield, Richland and Sumter counties were at least 113 mph.

The hardest hit area was the Midlands, which reported 22 tornadoes, most of them east of Columbia.