No Ernesto damage reports, but surf's up in Georgia

<p>TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. _ Tropical storm Ernesto brought rain showers and winds strong enough to wreck an umbrella Thursday as it edged past Georgia, and it also enabled some Southern surfers to catch a few good waves.</p><p>There were no reports of storm damage Thursday morning in Georgia coastal communities.</p><p>But at Tybee Island, amid sporadic showers, a handful of surfers enjoyed choppy seas that raised waves measuring 3 1/2 feet at the local pier.</p><p>"Tybee doesn't get a lot of good waves. Whenever there's a storm, all the locals come out," said Ian Howes, a 35-year-old shrimper and restaurant worker. He got the day off from shrimping because of the rough seas.</p><p>"The worse the weather is, generally, the better the waves are," Howes said. "We were hoping for a hurricane. But I'm glad no one had to die for me to have good waves."</p><p>On the beach, a few vacationers strolled and scanned the whitecaps.</p><p>Atlanta resident Jeff Elliott, 33, and his 4-year-old daughter Libby dipped their toes in the surf and scooped buckets full of sand. They packed up and headed indoors when the wind picked up around 9 a.m.</p><p>"It looks just like a little rainstorm," Elliott said of Ernesto. "It's not that bad."</p><p>Ernesto _ downgraded to a tropical depression over Florida, then upgraded as it moved over the warm waters of the Atlantic _ was forecast to make landfall again late Thursday along South Carolina's coast, likely near Georgetown. From there, it was to ride into central North Carolina.</p><p>Forecasters said Ernesto would pick up some moisture as it moves over the Gulf Stream and residents in the mid-Atlantic states could expect the weakened storm to dump 2-4 inches of rain.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/8/117907