Kyle hits coast, floods Carolinas before weakening

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- After wandering deep in the Atlantic for three weeks, Tropical Storm Kyle sideswiped the South Carolina coast Friday, swamping streets and homes with up to 8 inches of rain and packing destructive winds.

The storm's center passed across Charleston Harbor, the first tropical system to do so since Hurricane Hugo smashed into the state in 1989.

By 8 p.m., Kyle weakened and was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved north along North Carolina's coast, near the Cape Fear peninsula.

Kyle's sustained winds dropped to 35 mph and its rains were tapering off. All tropical storm warnings were canceled as it appeared to be headed out to sea and absorption in another storm system over northeastern North Carolina.

Before Kyle left South Carolina, roads were washed out when about 6 inches of rain fell in Clarendon County, between Charleston and Columbia. About a dozen people were rescued from homes surrounded by rising water, said Colleen Gates, the county's emergency preparedness director.

In Berkeley County, close to Charleston, about 8 inches of rain flooded several homes, a grocery store and a senior citizen center.

Charleston received stiff winds, rolling thunder and vivid displays of lightning. There was scattered street flooding, but by early afternoon the sky was blue and people wandered through the city's antiques district.

Possible twister

In Georgetown, a possible twister blew down power lines, tree limbs and overturned mobile homes, police said. Eight people suffered minor injuries.

While the North Carolina coast waited for the remnants of Kyle, inland counties were hit with flash flooding from rains from a separate storm system that washed several cars off roads. The deep water swept a car into a ditch in Roxboro.

High winds -- possibly tornadoes -- in North Carolina destroyed at least six homes and damaged about two dozen more. No injuries or fatalities were immediately reported.

The single-story frame home near Kenly that Ron Hoelz and his wife had recently finished remodeling was knocked about 20 feet off its foundation. Children's toys and the shredded remnants of pine trees littered the yard, and several nearby houses were damaged.

"No amusement ride can prepare you for what happened in this house," said Bobby Hunt, a friend who was visiting the Hoelz family.