What happened to the folks who got stuck on freeways leaving town? Did they have to ride it out in their cars?
It took forever for people to get anywhere but most were safe in shelters before the storm hit. The roads around Charleston were clear by the time the storm hit that night. The islands were evacuated - mandatory - the day before the storm and others were told to leave. A lot of people hunkered down and rode out the storm at shelters. There were a lot of heros during the storm including one young girl who drove her dad to the hospital while he was having a heart attack.
The Governor (Carroll Campbell) and the Mayors of the tri-county area were and are not fools and they have long realized that we need to be prepared above and beyond whatever the storm brings. The Disaster Preparedness group here in Charleston were the best.
Now about FEMA - Hollings called the bureaucratic jackasses. One of the few times that he was correct.
We had the National Guard in the streets the morning after and a curfew set immediately. It was quite an experience to walk outside turn the corner and walk smack into a guy carrying an M16(I think that was what it was).