MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Tropical Storm Gaston sloshed ashore Sunday in South Carolina with near hurricane-force winds, spinning sheets of rain that flooded roads as the storm knocked out power to thousands of people.
Gaston made landfall near McClellanville, a small fishing village that was brushed by Hurricane Charley earlier this month when it came ashore for a second time after devastating southwest Florida.
Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency Sunday and encouraged residents to stay in their homes so damage-assessment crews and utility and cleanup workers could do their work.
As much as 10 inches of rain fell in Charleston County, and a flash flood watch was in effect along some parts of the coast. Hundreds of residents were urged to evacuate ahead of the storm.
Hours after the eye of Gaston came ashore, steady sheets of rain drenched Mount Pleasant. Tree limbs littered flooded roadways, some of which were impassable. Palmettos were pushed to the pavement, and road signs twisted in the wind.
Across the harbor in Charleston, Gaston flooded streets and toppled power poles. At least 125,000 people were without power at the height of the storm.
The rain tapered off along the coast by midday, but blustery wind still raked the coastline near Charleston. By evening, Gaston was moving north about 8 mph across inland South Carolina, weakening along the way but still packing wind gusts as high as 82 mph.
Charleston County officials said there was only one initial report of a serious injury – a resident injured when a tree fell on a home.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Frances had sustained winds of 135 mph about 495 miles east of the Leeward Islands in the southeastern Caribbean. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Frances could strengthen and threaten land by Labor Day weekend.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hermine formed in the Atlantic, the eighth named storm of the season. The center of Hermine was about 325 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
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