Hurricane Floyd failed to live up to its billing. By yesterday morning even the most excitable local TV affiliate stations in North Carolina had switched their attention to the shooting in Fort Worth, Texas and CNN was looking at "hurricanes which forced themselves into key roles in Hollywood".
Flooding was reported in those coastal areas which suffered a direct hit. Four deaths, including one in a traffic accident and another in a drowning incident were linked to the storm, while 500,000 homes in North Carolina lost electricity.
By yesterday afternoon, as it moved up the eastern coast of the US, Hurricane Floyd continued to lose power and had been reclassified as a Category One storm. Highest recorded winds yesterday were 75 m.p.h. By the time Hurricane Floyd whistles through New York today it should be little more than a strong wind. In the aftermath of the hurricane, it was becoming apparent that the Bahamas had suffered the most damage.
Federal sources were keen to emphasise yesterday that Hurricane Floyd should be viewed as a good example of pre-emptive planning rather than a case of government agencies crying wolf.
In North Carolina, the repair effort will be a band-aid job rather than a stitches and bandage affair. By noon yesterday the sun was shining all over the state and the clean-up business was beginning. People were taking the plywood covers off their windows, many of them following a Carolinan ritual by painting the name "Floyd" on the wood, adding another to the list of hurricanes that the plywood sheets have been used for.
All afternoon on Wednesday, Interstate 77, the main artery leading into Charlotte, North Carolina from the storm-threatened country to the south and east looked like a long car park as motorists inched towards refuge. Yesterday the flow was reversed as people tried to get home to survey their properties.
As well as its booked-out hotels, Charlotte had turned the gymnasiums of four major high schools into overnight shelters and laid out hundreds of fold-up beds for evacuees.
Those finding their way into the shelters were those most likely to have been severely affected by the winds. The people most at risk were those living in trailer parks all over the state.
Bob and Myra Reed had locked up their trailer near Tuscarora in South Carolina early on Wednesday and headed inland through Fayetteville and on to Charlotte. They were ducking in and out of downtown pubs and cafes until the West Meckleburg County High School shelter opened its doors. The news that all hotel rooms were booked out was of little relevance to them.
"Put it this way," said Bob "We couldn't afford to stay home and we can't afford to stay anywhere here. We just came up and hoped for the best. Took everything out of the trailer we could and if it ain't there when we get back we'll maybe just keep driving."
Hurricane Andrew, which swept through here seven years ago, took out 18,000 mobile homes. Fifteen per cent of the people living in the Carolinas live in mobile homes or trailers. Although regulations insist that such homes should be capable of withstanding 100 m.p.h. winds, they are the most vulnerable dwellings.
"People will tell you," said Bob, "that back in '92 the wind was picking up trailers and putting them down in another county. You hear enough stories like that, you get out quickly in case you're in the next story."
By yesterday, Hurricane Floyd had turned into an anecdote about evacuation rather than an epic about disaster and the feeling along North Carolina was that the state had just dodged a big bullet.