Hanna is kind to the coast

Daylight revealed minor damage on the coast.

At dawn, the wind was howling in Morehead City, pushing white-capped waves across the normally placid Intracoastal Waterway. But Carteret County officials reported no serious storm damage, beyond some downed trees. The sun was out by 8 a.m., although wind gusts were still strong.

Damage was also light in Brunswick County.

"It wasn't much of a storm,'' Holden Beach Mayor Alan Holden told the Myrtle Beach Sun-News by phone as he did a morning tour of the island. He said the beach lost some dunes, but he hadn't seen any significant damage to structures.

Likewise, Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith said she hadn't seen any major damage to cottages there. At Wrightsville Beach, landscaping trees were uprooted by the wind, and a number of parked cars had shattered windshields.

Atlantic Beach residents who gathered for breakfast in the grill on the Oceanana Fishing Pier weren't impressed with Hanna's bite. There were no reports of serious damage and the fast-moving storm hit at low tide, limiting the reach of the waves surging up to the dunes.

There was little rain, but the whipping wind blasted sand off the beach, burning the skin of the few who ventured out to see the churning surf.

Pier owner Trace Cooper, who is also the town's mayor, stayed up most of the night monitoring reports from emergency officials.

"Most of the calls to police were complaints about hurricane parties more than hurricane damage," Cooper said. "Nothing more than the average Friday night."

Sampson County closed all of its shelters at 9 a.m. this morning.

Hanna dropped sporadic bursts of rain along the Outer Banks on Saturday morning, and all bridges and roads were open. The wind gusts were enough to keep fisherman in bed, but other than that, life moved on as usual in Nag's Head.

Hanna's most exciting effect seemed to be the surf, with six-feet waves rolling in near the former location of Jennette's Pier. Locals in four-wheel-drive pickups drove up on the sand to watch the waves, as they enjoyed their morning cigarettes and coffee.

And even though a hurricane never materialized, the festivities certainly did.

On Friday night, Karen Sealock hosted friends who drove all the way from West Virginia to party in Hanna's wake. Sealock, who works as a manager at Sam & Omie's restaurant in Nags Head, served steamed shrimp and beer to her buddies.

But by Saturday, Sealock was lamenting the overzealous TV weather people for chasing away business at the restaurant.

Hanna made landfall about 3:20 a.m. near the Carolinas state line, the weather service said. As the storm approached, about 1,500 people went to 49 emergency shelters in the state overnight, said Mark Van Sciver, with the state emergency operations center.

But storm-seasoned residents remained calm, with many people hitting the beach to gawk at rising waves and TV weather personalities. Hanna's arrival comes on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Fran, which caused extensive damage from the southern beaches to central North Carolina.

Shortly after dusk, emergency management officials on Harkers Island and the U.S. Coast Guard launched a search for a missing wind surfer. The surfer made his way back to land on his own and was located shortly before 9 p.m., according to Carteret County EMS.

Sunset Beach, at the southern end of North Carolina, issued a mandatory evacuation order, then closed a swing bridge providing access to the mainland.

Officials in other oceanfront communities decided against a mandatory evacuation.

Many businesses closed early so workers could cover storefront windows with corrugated steel panels that have been in storage for years. The bars stayed open, however, with several advertising hurricane drink specials. The Lowcountry of South Carolina, where Hanna had been aimed earlier, was spared the brunt of the storm. Moderate rain and wind were reported in areas south of Charleston. Some road flooding was reported in Charleston and Georgetown.

Up the coast, some power outages were reported in Myrtle Beach and other parts of Horry County.

The Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette and the Myrtle Beach Sun-News contributed to this report.