MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Usually on a late summer Saturday, beachgoers along South Carolina's Grand Strand struggle to find a parking spot or a place to lay down a towel.

But this Saturday morning, the state's most popular tourist destination was a ghost town as 150,000 tourists and 30,000 residents were forced to head inland to avoid Hurricane Charley.

The evacuation for Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas covered U.S. Business 17 east to the ocean, effectively shutting down the long narrow tourist district and its high-rise hotels that stretches more than 20 miles on the northern part of South Carolina's shore.

The evacuation order from Gov. Mark Sanford came as a surprise to many after Charley unexpectedly gained strength off the coast of Florida and its forecast track shifted to the east. The storm made its second landfall around 10:30 a.m. Saturday near McClellanville, about 30 miles down the coast from the Grand Strand.

Along South Carolina's tourist Mecca, hotels sat empty, their vacancy signs still on in hopes people will return now that the storm has passed. Businesses were so unaccustomed to closing that some left their open signs on, despite having taped-up windows.

The few places that were open didn't draw crowds. Two of the area's famous pancakes houses were open, but with empty parking lots. And not even the promise of hot doughnuts at the North Myrtle Beach Krispy Kreme was enough to get people to venture out as Charley's winds and rains began.

Some businesses grumbled about the loss of a day of profits.

Simone Whales, a worker at a Wings beachwear shop about three blocks from the ocean, said she had no customers and wasn't sure if she would get any since most of the tourists had to leave.

Charley "is just a wimp," Whales said. "I just wish the customers would come in."

Sanford defended his actions, saying he had to consider a worst-case scenario, which might have brought a surge of ocean water into buildings along the beach.

"You try to make the decision based on sound science," Sanford said. "But it also comes down to you can replace property, but you can't replace lives."

So an eerie calm replaced gridlock on most Grand Strand streets. Traffic lights were out all over the city, but it hardly mattered because only a few cars creeped by.

Normally crowded beaches sat empty even after the storm passed by and the sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon.

Hotel owners expect the business to quickly bounce back. The evacuation order was lifted early enough in the day that many figured they'd at least get some customers back before nightfall and have close to a full house by Sunday night.

Damage to the area was limited to downed power lines and tree branches, most of which should be fixed or cleaned up by Saturday evening.

"Things should be back to normal by tomorrow morning, if not by this afternoon," Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said.

He was speaking just hours after things were anything but normal. As the center of the storm passed by North Myrtle Beach, Jamie Willis and Eric Short decided to ride their bikes through the rain and wind to see the ocean.

The amazing thing is they were nearly alone as they pedaled pine branches and twigs down the middle of six-lane U.S. Business 17. Any other time of the summer, the trip would have been suicidal.

"It's weird, but it's good too," said Willis, who lives nearby. "I get tired of the tourists and all the traffic."