(SC-AP) Aug. 16, 2004 - South Carolina officials are confident their long-planned emergency measures held up well this weekend as Hurricane Charley grazed the state's coast.

The storm was still a Category 1 hurricane when it hit South Carolina's coast in the McClellanville area around 10:30am on Saturday packing 85 mile per hour winds before making its way into North Carolina by around noon.

For at least an hour, there was sustained winds of 50 miles-per-hour to 67 miles-per-hour sending the beach patrol and police inside. The winds broke windows and even tore off parts of buildings. After the wind calmed, debris left a trail along the beach. The Myrtle Beach Emergency Center reports that there was no significant damage other than cosmetic damage to buildings in the area.

The approach of Hurricane Charley prompted Governor Mark Sanford on Friday to decree a state of emergency and to order a mandatory evacuation east of Highway 17 Business in Georgetown and Horry Counties as well as to issue a voluntary evacuation for the entire South Carolina coast.

The evacuation also prompted the reversal of some eastbound lanes for westbound evacuation on Highway 501 in Horry County.

About 180,000 people had evacuated the Grand Strand by the time Charley skirted the tourist-heavy region. Officials say the evacuation helped stop a potential disaster.

At the height of the hurricane, nearly 1,600 people gathered at emergency shelters across Horry County. More than 1,200 people spent the night at Conway High School.

The region was ready to welcome back business shortly after the evacuation order was lifted Saturday afternoon. Officials say many restaurants and hotels were open later that night.

Almost everyone has had electric service restored by Monday in Charley's wake. Progress Energy reports 112,000 of its customers in North Carolina and South Carolina lost service during the storm. Spokeswoman Karen Stinneford says all the utility's customers in northeast South Carolina have had service restored.

South Carolina Electric and Gas Company says all 32,000 of its customers who lost power during the storm have had service restored. The state-owned utility Santee Cooper says 65,000 customers lost service. About 400 customers still had no service Sunday night.

The Horry County Electric Cooperative says 25,000 customers lost power during the storm. All but about 100 customers were had power restored by last night.

posted 8:41am by Chris Rees