For the second time in two weeks, the Grand Strand rode out a tropical storm, escaping Gaston's worst and hoping Hurricane Frances goes somewhere else for Labor Day.

Tropical Storm Gaston moved through the area Sunday, bringing rain, strong winds, some localized flooding and sporadic power outages, but producing little damage and no major injuries.

Like Hurricane Charley two weeks ago, Gaston spared Brunswick, N.C., Horry and Georgetown counties its worst.

Damage and flooding was much more severe in Charleston County, where Gaston made landfall Sunday morning. Sunday night, Gaston marched north, deluging inland counties but barely scraping Brunswick County. By 8 p.m., Gaston was downgraded to a tropical depression.

But not before the storm dumped 3 to 5 inches locally, flooding secondary roads and soaking an area already waterlogged by weeks of heavy rain. Areas on the beach received less than 2 inches, with more rain falling in western areas.

Because of localized flooding, Horry County Schools will delay today's return to school by an hour.

For the second time this month, floods forced 20 Loris residents to evacuate their apartment complex.

The storm, which never reached hurricane strength, packed sustained winds of 35 miles per hour, with gusts topping 45 miles per hour.

Roof shingles flew skyward and trees fell. A tornado watch was issued until 10 p.m. Sunday, but no twisters were reported.

Authorities prepared for the worst. Early Sunday, they had predicted the sluggish storm would linger for 24 hours and dump as much as much as 10 inches of rain. Horry and Georgetown counties activated emergency management plans, and Georgetown schools officials sandbagged schools still showing scars from Charley.

But Gaston moved through the area more quickly than anticipated. Authorities eyeing Hurricane Frances, a Category 4 storm churning in the Atlantic, said the Grand Strand was lucky. Again.

"Looks like we might have missed the bullet," said Georgetown County spokesman Dwight McInvaill.

As many as 1,000 customers were without power Sunday night in Garden City Beach. Hundreds more reported outages in rural Georgetown County. Outages also were reported - and quickly restored - in Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet.

Many of the outages were expected to last until today, as continued wind gusts prevented utility crews from repairing the downed power lines.

"We can't send out the bucket trucks until the weather improves," said Laura Varn of Santee Cooper.

Several flights were canceled at Myrtle Beach International Airport, though the airport stayed open and flights resumed Sunday afternoon, said Airport Director Bob Kemp. Continental and Northwest airlines canceled all of their flights. US Airways canceled all flights until Sunday afternoon, and Hooters Air flights were delayed.

Visitors stick through storm

Because school already has started in many communities, visitor numbers were down this weekend anyway.

Hotel owners said many of the tourists that were here stayed through the storm.

"Any one here who was scheduled to stay, stayed," said Mamdooh Saleh, general manager of the Windsurfer Hotel in Myrtle Beach.

Although Gaston prompted some tourists to cut their trips short, many decided to wait out the storm.

"We're trying to make the best of it," said Mursherill Ogletree of North Augusta. "I paid my money. We're still hoping it's going to get better and we can come back and go swimming. We want to enjoy what we can."

At Ocean Lakes Family Campground, some campers left Saturday and early Sunday morning, but the campground didn't clear out completely, said Becky Rimmer, the campground's office supervisor.

"We had the some that stayed," Rimmer said. "They just moved back further from the ocean."

Carolyn Miles, the front desk supervisor at Lakewood Camping Resort, said some campers left but that business was close to normal.

"The ones that were scheduled to come in today are coming," Miles said.

Many people braved the winds to walk the beaches Sunday; some looking for shells and others looking for thrills.

Mario and Rosemarie Marcellino of Monticello, N.Y., strolled the beach and took in the excitement of the storm.

"We're from New York," Rosemarie Marcellino said. "We don't get this. We don't know how strong the winds can get."

Help for residents

Western Georgetown and Horry counties saw the most rain and strongest wind gusts. In Loris, Cortney Cornwell waded through about 3 feet of water in her front yard and apartment on Holly Street.

The flooding of her one-story, brick apartment during Tropical Storm Gaston came as no surprise.

The same thing happened two weeks ago during Hurricane Charley.

"We've gone two weeks without carpet," Cornwell said, before heading to the local hotel where she and the other 20 residents planned to stay.

A voluntary evacuation was issued for Georgetown County, and 17 residents took shelter at Pleasant Hill Elementary School. That shelter was closed by Sunday afternoon, said county spokesman Greg Troutman. No shelters were opened in Horry County.

In Georgetown and Horry counties, authorities opened their Emergency Operations Centers on Sunday morning. The centers were closed by Sunday night.

9:25 a.m. Sunday

# HTMLInfoBox~~What's next with the storm?

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