HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Officials should be better prepared for lane reversals, shelter needs and evacuation response after the state weathered one of the busiest hurricane seasons in recent memory, a state hurricane program manager says.

"There were several firsts even though many consider this was not a significant season for us. It was a very significant season," Jon Boettcher, hurricane program manager for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, said Wednesday, the final day of the Hurricane/Emergency Management Workshop. "It was the busiest season in 110 years" for state residents.

The centers of four tropical systems crossed into South Carolina, the first time that has happened in a single season since 1893. Two storms, Hurricane Charley and Gaston, made landfall within weeks and miles of each other in Charleston County. Officials were warned at the conference earlier this week that conditions are ripe for another busy season, which begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

Officials last year ordered the first mandatory evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, which turned into a traffic nightmare along Interstate 26. This time things were a little smoother as Hurricane Charley approached the Grand Strand in August and lanes were reversed on U.S. Highway 501.

"We were very pleased," said Dick Jenkins of the state Transportation Department. Jenkins said there are plans to add 14 traffic cameras along several highways on the coast to monitor traffic and improve evacuations.

Boettcher said the state needs more planning for lane reversals because of the growth along the coast. The U.S. 501 lane-reversal plan is one of four in the state that can move residents away from the coast.

Because Charley made a quick turn and within hours was across Florida, officials made quick decisions to order mandatory evacuations of Horry and Georgetown counties, providing another opportunity for improvement, Boettcher said.

"We're looking to set up evacuations in six hours in two to three counties," Boettcher said. "We got all the evacuations done on short notice. It wasn't pretty, but it did work. It will be prettier next time."

Evacuating more residents means more people will be seeking shelter, Boettcher said. A plan is being organized to increase the state's emergency shelter capacity of 135,000 people by 10 percent. That means officials must identify 13,000 additional locations for shelters, Boettcher said.

"We'll be as ready as we can be," he said.