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ROSEBORO, N.C. - A weakening Tropical Storm Charley sloshed through North Carolina's eastern counties Saturday, doing little more than damaging trees and causing power outages.
"I think it busted up before it got to us," said Tony Coates, who owns Tony's Grill in the small town of Roseboro, about 80 miles north of Supply, where the storm entered the state at lunchtime.
The storm had crossed Florida, skipped the Georgia coast and returned to land in South Carolina.
Charley's maximum sustained wind speed was 75 mph when it arrived in North Carolina, down considerably from the 145 mph wind Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Humble. It kept weakening during the afternoon and was downgraded to a tropical storm when its wind speed dropped to 69 mph.
The storm was moving toward the north-northeast at about 30 mph, and storm warnings and watches were posted along the east coast as far as north as Massachusetts.
The foul weather only lasted about a half hour in any given spot in North Carolina.
"We've had no calls," Wesley Parker said at the volunteer fire department in Ammon, about 70 miles north of Supply. "I think they might have made a bigger deal about it than it was."
About 108,000 customers lost power, Progress Energy reported. In South Carolina, about 65,000 homes and business were blacked out, utility officials said.
Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner declared a state of emergency and said state police, the highway department and the National Guard had extra staff on standby.
The main threat in Virginia was the potential for heavy rain, the National Weather Service said. Highway crews were prepared to close the Midtown Tunnel, connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth, in the event of flooding; last September, Hurricane Isabel filled the tunnel with nearly 44-million gallons of water, closing it for nearly a month.
Farther up the shore, in Maryland, a heavy stream of traffic flowed inland as families scrapped their weekend beach plans and headed home to escape the rain and wind expected up to 45 mph. In Queen Anne's County, motorists were at a standstill on Route 50 as they crowded toward the Bay Bridge.
Steady rain in New Jersey drove vacationers off the beaches at Cape May, and lifeguards tied down stands as the remnants of Charley streamed northward.
"It's just rain now, but since it's forecast to get worse, we're done for now," said Gail Deal, one of the exhibitors packing up tents and merchandise at the Promenade Craft Show at Cape May.
South Carolina's Grand Strand resort area had been nearly emptied of 180,000 tourists and residents by the time the storm ran ashore Saturday with 85 mph wind, still enough to qualify it as a hurricane. McClellanville, a small town that bore the brunt of powerful Hurricane Hugo 15 years ago, had street flooding and broken tree limbs.
Kari Sorrels said she and her family had little traffic problems as they evacuated North Myrtle Beach, S.C., late Friday.
"We're very impressed with how they had the roads set up. They got us out of there quickly," said Sorrels, who was leaving with her husband and 10-month-old son, Daniel.
In Georgia, the only effect of the storm in Savannah came Saturday morning when a light drizzle fell, accompanied by mild wind gusts not even strong enough to ruffle a $5 umbrella or dislodge the Spanish moss hanging from the city's live oaks.
Even on the islands off the Georgia shore, Charley didn't intimidate. Tourists were milling around Tybee Island, which had been under a voluntary evacuation Friday night. Terri Matthews of St. Simons Island said it didn't appear many residents left.
"It wasn't much of anything. I haven't seen any evidence of wind damage or a storm surge or anything. Right now, it's a beautiful, sunny day, and the sun is shining," she said. "It's a wonderful, sunny hurricane."