Local leaders said the lane-reversal plan order for U.S. 501 during the mandatory evacuations went well.

S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford on Friday ordered the reversal of the two southbound lanes of U.S. 501, making all four lanes of the highway northbound beginning at S.C. 22, Veterans Highway, and ending at the Marion Bypass.

Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said the reversals went well.

Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, estimated 150,000 tourists left the area Friday night.

He said the reversal helped folks get out fast.

"There were a few initial anxious, nervous moments," said Capt. Melvin Howard, the S.C. Highway Patrol's Troop 5 commander.

A number of unknowns existed, Howard said.

Among them was that because U.S. 501 is not a controlled-access road like an interstate, there was a fear motorists might get on the highway and go the wrong way.

That did not happen, he said.

Delays where S.C. 544 merges into U.S. 501 were expected, he said, and the Highway Patrol alleviated that by sending one lane of S.C. 544 through Conway.

The peak time for folks leaving the beach seemed to be from 6 to 9 p.m., although traffic continued exiting well after midnight. The lane-reversals ended at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Staff writer David Klepper contributed to this report.