COLUMBIA, S.C. - While the storm is at least a week away, South Carolina emergency preparedness officials met Thursday to discuss plans for what to do if Hurricane Isabel threatens the coast.

Hurricane Isabel, a powerful hurricane with wind speeds of nearly 160 mph, was located about 500 miles east-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

Hurricanes are rated from a low of Category 1 to a high of Category 5. Isabel grew to a Category 5 on Thursday afternoon.

It's still unclear what impact Isabel could have on South Carolina, said Bernie Palmer, meteorologist in charge of the Columbia office of the National Weather Service.

A cold front from the West is expected to move into the Southeast early next week, he said. But that may come too early to push the hurricane north and creates a "potential period of uncertainty," Palmer said.

By 1 a.m. Saturday, the hurricane is expected to be four days away from the East Coast and possible landfall, said Sanford's chief of staff Fred Carter.

At that point, state officials will look at strike probabilities to determine whether to begin evacuations and lane reversals in the 96 hours before landfall.

Former Gov. Jim Hodges was criticized in 1999 for not making the call soon enough to help traffic flow from people evacuating the coast when Hurricane Floyd hit. Some motorists spent as long as 18 hours on Interstate 26 between Charleston and Columbia, a trip that normally takes about two hours.

Sanford, who defeated Hodges in the 2002 election, said he learned a lesson from that experience.

"Storms can be damaging in a lot of different ways. They can be damaging to physical property, to people's lives on the coast and they can also be damaging to one's political persona given the way things are perceived to be handled or not handled," Sanford said.

Agency officials said they are ready to handle Isabel. Emergency shelters and law enforcement are ready to operate.

One weakness could be the number of troops available from the National Guard, which already is strained with guardsmen deployed to the Middle East, Adjutant General Stan Spears said.

The general said South Carolina has an agreement with Georgia and North Carolina to share troops as needed.

Sanford, who has a home on Sullivans Island just north of Charleston, said residents shouldn't be worried this weekend, but they should keep an eye on the storm.

"We're due, unfortunately, at some point," Sanford said.