Waves wash ashore in Myrtle Beach, SC as Hurricane Fran prepares to come ashore.Digital Photo by Bob Rives/Staff

At 8:26pm, Fran was 40 miles south of Wilmington, NC

Web-posted Sept. 5, 1996 at 8:25 p.m.

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The Associated Press

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Hurricane Fran began battering the Carolinas with 115 mph winds and even higher gusts Thursday, bending trees and blowing rain sideways as thousands of people scrambled for storm supplies or the road out of town.

Fran accelerated and veered slightly to the east Thursday night, on a path that would bring the eye over Cape Fear, N.C., at about 7:30 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said.

At 7 p.m., Air Force hurricane-hunter planes located Fran's 25-mile wide eye roughly 20 miles south-southeast of Southport, N.C., on the west side of the Cape Fear river, where gusts of 120 mph were being reported.

More than a half-million tourists and residents had been ordered to evacuate the coast in North and South Carolina as Fran drew near, leaving a string of deserted beach towns.

The Johnny Mercer Pier in Myrtle Beach, SC is buffeted by strong waves driven by Hurricane Fran.Digital Photo by Bob Rives/Staff

"Believe you me, we wanted to get out of there," said Audrey Landers, who fled her townhouse a block from the ocean with her neighbors and their children. They took shelter at a high school in Conway, 15 miles inland.

Hurricane warnings were posted from Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Virginia line. People living as far inland as West Virginia were warned to expect tropical storm-force winds and 5 to 10 inches of rain.

Waves were crashing 10 feet high along the shore at Myrtle Beach, where the usually bustling Ocean Boulevard was deserted and driving was all but impossible with sheets of rain blown horizontal by gusts reaching 55 mph.

Even 15 miles in from the coast, tree limbs and flooded highways made moving around hazardous. Thousands of people took refuge in hundreds of shelters in the Carolinas.

Back in Calabash, Thomas Wynn's neighbors heeded the mandatory evacuation, but the 72-year-old World War II veteran decided to ride out the storm in his wood frame house. "I've been under fire before," he said.

Lynn High, owner of Calabash Marina and Storage, pulled boats out of the water, put plywood over windows, then took off - with memories of Hurricane Hugo on her mind.

That huge storm caused almost $8 billion in damage, mostly in South Carolina, and killed 35 people as it tore through the Caribbean and up the East Coast with 135 mph winds in 1989.

"I'm more worried about this one," High said. "We're in a little cove here, but I think we'll have a lot more wind and water than even during Hugo."

Fran was slightly less powerful than Hugo, but just as large - winds of 74 mph or more swirled 140 miles out from the center.

The governors of both North and South Carolina declared emergencies. Businesses closed early, buses stopped running at noon, boat owners pulled their vessels out of the water and Amtrak trains and commercial flights were suspended.

In South Carolina, more than 2,000 National Guardsmen helped direct traffic and provide security in evacuated areas.

Most coastal residents heeded warnings. If someone refuses to leave, "we ask for next of kin," said Georgetown County sheriff's Maj. Mike Schwartz.

Long lines formed at grocery checkout counters and gas stations as people stocked up on fuel, food and bottled water. Hotel and motel rooms were booked hundreds of miles in from the coast.

In Georgetown, about midway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, merchants rushed to empty their storefronts, where Hugo left 6 feet of water.

"We're taking everything we can take out," said Billy Johnson, the owner of the Pink Magnolia Cafe, as he and other employees loaded chairs, glass tabletops and furniture into a rental truck.