NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - A diminished Hurricane Charley ripped across the Grand Strand Saturday morning with 75 mph winds, causing power outages, minor flooding and damage to some businesses and homes.

But as quickly as it had come, Charley was gone, moving into North Carolina and up the East Coast.

The good news for South Carolina was the storm’s track kept the strongest part of the hurricane over water, which meant its effects were felt mainly along the coastal portions of Georgetown and Horry counties.

Gov. Mark Sanford lifted the mandatory evacuation order for Georgetown and Horry counties by early afternoon.

Saturday evening power outages continued to affect portions of the Grand Strand, but things were returning to normal as residents and tourists began to return.

Main roads that had been blocked earlier by fallen trees were cleared.

The fast moving Category 1 storm came ashore between Charleston and Georgetown counties near McClellanville about 11 a.m.

But for McClellanville, which felt the brunt of Hurricane Hugo 15 years ago, this wasn’t nearly as bad.

According to The Associated Press, the town experienced a combination of street flooding and downed tree limbs. In the East Cooper portion of Charleston County, power was knocked out for about 32,000 customers, according to SCE&G officials.

By 6 p.m., power was restored to all but about 9,000. About 70,000 Santee Cooper and Horry Electric customers throughout Horry County were without power at the height of the storm.

By 5 p.m., Santee Cooper said 25,000 were still without power.

The bulk of the outages were in North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island. Most of the outages were caused by downed trees and tree limbs.

At the height of the storm, Santee Electric Cooperative reported 10,000 customers without power with the majority of outages being in Georgetown County, along with scattered outages in Williamsburg County.

By 6 p.m., about 5,000 were still without power.

As of 3 p.m., Myrtle Beach International Airport was open, but was without power and all phone lines were down.

Horry County’s 10 evacuation shelters were closed by early afternoon, but officials there reported that about 2,900 evacuees had been taken in to ride out the storm.

Horry County spokeswoman Lisa Boucier said there were several trees down, including one that fell on a house, but there were no reports of serious damage or injuries.

Similar damage was evident throughout North Myrtle Beach. At the height of the storm, the streets of North Myrtle Beach were largely deserted as the effects from Charley began to be felt at about 11:30 a.m.

Broken tree limbs and debris ripped from businesses throughout the city littered many streets.

On Main Street, the roof covering an island of gasoline pumps at a service station flip-flopped in the high winds, but managed to stay attached. Along South Ocean Boulevard, a street lamp leaned at a precarious angle and power lines stretched across the roadway. A section of roofing that had been ripped from a nearby hotel was in the middle of the street.

Waves ripped across a retention pond at a local Wal-Mart, which flooded the adjoining parking lot.

Some businesses had sand bags placed across their entrances, but very few had been boarded up in preparation for Charley.

But none of it was enough to keep curious residents and tourists, who opted to ignore evacuation orders and remain behind, from checking out Charley for themselves.

Many had gathered along a small stretch of beach on South Ocean Boulevard even as the waves of the Atlantic were tossing nearby into an angry froth.

Norman Williams from Washington, D.C., expressed amazement at the spectacle before him.

“I’m enjoying it, actually,” he said. “I love nature and this is nature at it’s best.”

Motel owner Elizabeth Simpson came to get a first-hand look even as she worried about some of the damage Charley had caused to her business, the E&E Motel, which lost some roofing shingles to the high winds.

“I’m from Hollywood, Florida, and this is my first time in a storm,” she said.

Another business owner along Main Street in North Myrtle Beach took it all in while standing under an awning and eating an ice cream cone.

But Chris Griste, owner of the Sugar Shack, had come downtown to make sure a power failure had not caused his main commodity, ice cream, to melt away.

“It’s always nerve-wracking, but I think we made out very well from this storm,” he said. “I’m going to wait it out. It’s a little rough to go surfing right now so I’m just going to sit on the beach and hang out.”

At 12:18 p.m., the National Weather Service said the storm’s center crossed into North Carolina in Brunswick County. Later Saturday afternoon, the South Carolina governor told the AP he felt the evacuations had gone well.

Sanford left it up to local leaders to determine when residents could return.

He also toured Georgetown and visited a shelter and the emergency operations center, both in Conway, according to spokesman Will Folks.

“Overall, Myrtle Beach fared well,” city spokesman Mark Kruea told the AP.

“The storm was a bit stronger than we expected, but we didn’t have the type of damage we usually get in these kinds of storms.”

Meanwhile, two additional tropical storms were brewing out in the Atlantic.

Newly developed Tropical Storm Earl was generating winds of 40 mph and heading west-northwest into the Caribbean at 24 mph.

A five-day projection showed the storm could initially take a similar track like Charley, and be just south of Cuba by Wednesday.

The other, Danielle, had evolved into a strong tropical storm by Saturday evening, churning 65 mph winds with higher gusts.

It was moving to the west-northwest at 14 mph. Well out in the Atlantic, five-day course projections indicated the storm shouldn’t pose a threat to the U.S. mainland as it gradually curves to the north during the next several days.

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