Hurricane Strikes South Carolina, Georgia; Thousands Flee Inland

Hurricane Bob struck coastal communities in Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday night with heavy rain, high tides and 75-m.p.h. winds, forcing thousands of persons to flee inland.

The hurricane, the first of the Atlantic storm season, came ashore just north of Beaufort, S.C., after midnight, forecasters in Miami said.

Several thousand persons moved inland as tides were whipped three to five feet above normal, said Paul Lunsford, a spokesman for the state emergency preparedness division. About 850 persons were in shelters, he said.

7,000 Without Power

The storm knocked out power to about 7,000 customers in Charleston and the only circuit to Edisto Island, where 400 persons live, said Barbara Powell, a South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. spokeswoman.

The Red Cross opened shelters in several areas inland of South Carolina’s resort beaches. However, no serious damage or injuries were attributed to the storm.

Bob was declared a hurricane at 5:30 p.m. when wind speeds within the storm were reported at 75 m.p.h. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when sustained winds reach 74 m.p.h.

Hurricane warnings from Savannah, Ga., to Little River Inlet, S.C., went into effect at 6 p.m., replacing gale warnings and a hurricane watch, the center said.

Forecasters were expecting 4 to 8 inches of rain over portions of South Carolina. They also warned of a slight chance of a tornado over parts of the Carolinas today.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Ignacio moved to within 500 miles east-southeast of the island of Hawaii, and the National Weather Service issued a hurricane watch.

Ignacio’s strongest sustained winds have been near 105 m.p.h. The hurricane was expected to move in a westerly direction for the next few days.