COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford reviewed the state's level of hurricane preparedness with agency heads Thursday in hopes of keeping South Carolinians safe and the federal government at bay.

Before Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, hurricane emergency management decisions were considered a state and local responsibility, Mr. Sanford said.

After Katrina, the federal government said, 'Let's scrap what we've done for 200 years. If there's a big problem, we're coming in,'" he said.

To avoid that, it's vital that South Carolina be particularly well-prepared to respond, Mr. Sanford said.

The National Weather Service predicts there will be 13 to 17 tropical storms during the hurricane season that begins June 1.

Of those, seven to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes, and three to five of those are expected to be strong.

"South Carolina is more than due for a major hurricane," Mr. Sanford said.

His two biggest concerns:

- A sense of complacency, especially among new coastal residents, that the curvature of South Carolina's coast, coupled with the fact that North Carolina's juts out, means a hurricane is unlikely to hit here.

- General issues with the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Agency heads detailed changes made since the last hurricane season, including additional generators for shelters east of Interstate 95, some of which have yet to be installed or approved; additional radios and satellite phones and more traffic cameras giving hourly snapshots of evacuation routes.

In the best-case evacuation scenario, evacuees travel at 35-45 mph, and an area is mostly cleared out in 30 hours.

"I would really just encourage people to leave early and on their own," Mr. Sanford said.