(Columbia) September 1, 2006 - Tourists are back on the beach on the Grand Strand Friday, after Tropical Storm Ernesto brushed by before directly striking North Carolina Thurs. night.

The sun broke through the clouds about 10 o'clock Friday morning.

Families were walking along the calm surf. A fisherman was working the waters off the Cherry Grove pier.

Two men waded through knee-deep water in one North Myrtle Beach neighborhood. A car was nearby with water nearly over the wheels.

Horry County officials are assessing the impact of the storm, and Governor Mark Sanford will be in Myrtle Beach Friday afternoon to encourage tourists to keep their Labor Day weekend travel plans.

The governor plans to check on damage from the storm before a scheduled news conference.

Tropical Storm Ernesto slogged into North Carolina, capping a day of heavy rain in the eastern part of the state and promising more of the same as it moved north early Friday.

But the system stayed just short of hurricane strength, and though forecasters issued numerous warnings, Ernesto brought no major flooding, few evacuations and no confirmed tornadoes by the time it made landfall and moved inland.

After the center of the storm blew through Kinston, about 75 miles north of Wilmington, one resident said there was some street flooding, but not a lot more.

"It's about quit raining," said Johnny Smith, manager of a sporting goods store. "We're looking pretty good right now. At times, there was heavy rain."

Flood warnings and watches were issued across mostly rural eastern North Carolina, and a tornado watch extended across central-eastern counties and along the Outer Banks.

"The biggest concern is flooded roads - especially at night, it's harder to tell if a road has been washed out or not," state spokeswoman Patty McQuillan said early Friday. "If people don't need to drive, they shouldn't be out there."

Continuing rainfall was expected to push the Tar and Neuse rivers over their banks in several eastern towns, she said.

In Beaufort County, a mandatory evacuation was issued for about 1,500 families, said George Sullivan, director of the county Emergency Management Office. One order was issued Thursday afternoon for an area that typically floods in heavy rain, Sullivan said.

Police were going door-to-door early Friday for another area where drainage is poor, Sullivan said. "Most of them are in bed asleep," he said. "So we're telling them the water's rising, c'mon, let's go while they can still get their cars out."

Ernesto's sustained winds reached 70 mph, just 4 mph below hurricane strength, as it made landfall at Long Beach, just west of Cape Fear, at 11:30pm. Thursday. It dumped more than 8 inches of rain on the Wilmington area, a record for Aug. 31, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm weakened as it moved inland. At 11am EDT, the center of Tropical Depression Ernesto was located about 80 miles west-southwest of Norfolk, Virginia. The depression is moving toward the north near 14 mph and was expected to continue that direction during the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts.  The depression is expected to become extratropical during the next day or two.
[Forecast Path | Public Advisory | Satellite | Computer Models]

Even in a state that has seen widespread drought this summer, many feared the rain might be too much of a good thing. A separate storm system had already dropped as much as 8 inches of rain on parts of central and eastern North Carolina on Wednesday.

The storm was expected to take a slightly curved track through eastern North Carolina overnight and cross into Virginia during the day Friday, skirting Washington, DC, late Friday or early Saturday.

On Thursday, Gov. Timothy Kaine declared a state of emergency, putting the Virginia National Guard and state agencies on alert. North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley also declared a state of emergency.

The state had 26 emergency shelters opened in areas affected by the storm, but only 233 people stayed in them Thursday night. Only a handful of power outages were reported, McQuillan said.

Many eastern school districts and some businesses planned to open late Friday, including the Marine Corps bases at Camp Lejeune and Air Station New River, on the coast near Jacksonville. Some schools were closed.

The National Park Service closed some facilities on the Outer Banks until the storm passed, including two campgrounds near Cape Hatteras. The ports at Wilmington and Morehead City were closed by the Coast Guard at mid-afternoon Thursday.

Several state roads and local streets in southeastern counties were closed Thursday night due to high water, but no major traffic disruptions or accidents were reported, McQuillan said.

Sean Gainer was driving down a street in Wilmington when his car suddenly stalled in two feet of water. By the time he and others pushed it to safety, the water in the road had receded.

"I've driven in hurricanes and I've seen worse than this. That kind of luck just happens," he said.

Ernesto passed about 40 miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach earlier Thursday evening.

The strongest wind gust in South Carolina has been 46 miles per hour at Myrtle Beach. Several other areas have also reported high winds. To see those numbers, click here>>

Rain began spreading across the Palmetto State Thursday morning, with Mount Pleasant reporting over six-and-a-half inches of rain.

The rain became stronger in North Myrtle Beach Thursday night, with more than three inches reported from Ernesto.

Horry County officials say there were some minor power outages and a few trees down as the strongest rainbands came ashore late Thursday night.

There was some significant flooding in parts of the downtown Charleston area. 

There were also some road closures. According to the National Weather Service, a portion of Highway 17 was shut down. Other road closures have been reported on Folly Road on James Island and Bohicket Road on Johns Island. Click here for more on road closures>>

Several South Carolina schools and airports switched around schedules to avoid the storm. Click here to read school cancellations>> 

For flight delays and cancellation information, click here>>

Ernesto hit another US state earlier in the week. The storm lost much of its punch crossing eastern Cuba and made landfall late Tuesday on Plantation Key with 45 mph wind - far from the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane that Ernesto briefly met Sunday.

"It was the little train that couldn't," said David Rudduck of the American Red Cross.

Visitors had been ordered to leave the Keys before Ernesto arrived, but they were being allowed to return as of noon Wednesday for the busy Labor Day weekend.

The storm initially prompted NASA to start moving the space shuttle to its assembly building for protection, but NASA later reversed course and sent it back to the launch pad. NASA will try to launch again next Wednesday.

Accidents on rain-slickened expressways killed at least two people in Florida on Tuesday. Ernesto also killed at least two people in Haiti.

About 6,800 Florida Power & Light customers lost electricity at one point, but most power was quickly restored. More than 3 million customers had lost power after Hurricane Wilma last year.

Updated 10:54am by Bryce Mursch with AP