Fox News Correspondent and Photographer John Bullard reporting live from a relatively calm Myrtle Beach

I’ve covered three storms in three weeks and so far it looks like Hanna is packing the least punch of them all. Make no mistake, Hanna will leave her mark on Coastal Carolina, but it’s pretty much business as usual for residents and tourists in Myrtle Beach.

We are doing live shots for Fox News Channel on the beach right next to our hotel. Unlike our encounter with Gustav earlier this week, folks are not heading for higher ground. Authorities have ordered only voluntary evacuations and many staying in our hotel are making the best of a gloomy day and the stormy night ahead.

I ran into a group of youth pastors from the Bethesda Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. They were playing on the beach hoping for a good weekend in the surf and sand here in Myrtle Beach. They considered canceling their trip but heard that Hanna probably wouldn’t reach hurricane status and likely would hit way north of here near Wilmington, NC. But with the storm now looming off shore– promising upwards of 70 mph winds and a possible 10 inches of rain on The Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach, this group will hunker down in their rooms tonight.

Members of the Bethesda Baptist Church in Durham, NC: Jacob Green, Nick Long, Julie Marsh, Skip Marsh, Angie Long and Dennis Long

Not exactly ideal conditions for a weekend getaway to the beach, but you’ll have a hard time spoiling it for this faithful group from Bethesda Baptist Church. They’re making fudge, cooking spaghetti and watching TV to pass the time while the storm batters the beach. For them it’s not the weather that would make this a perfect get away weekend. Despite the howling winds and driving rain they will endure, they say they have their faith and each other on what will turn out to be a perfect stormy Friday night in Myrtle Beach.

We are expecting Hanna to make a quick entrance and an even quicker exit. She will have come and gone before we know it. Like everyone else on the Southeast Coasts, we are monitoring Hanna, but really focusing on Ike. He’s much stronger, more dangerous and a major threat to millions of people in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Ike will likely be storm number four for me…let’s hope he is the last.

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FRIDAY AFTERNOON:

We’re reporting live from Myrtle Beach (although there’s not much beach to report from). The driving surf has covered much of the sand with warm, shallow water as Tropical Storm Hanna approaches. Click on the video to watch.

FRIDAY MORNING:

We woke up to gray skies and moderately strong surf — a far cry from the calm, sunny weather that greeted our arrival in Myrtle Beach, SC yesterday.

We begin our live reports at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. As we set up our equipment on the beach, employees at nearby hotels are bringing in pool furniture in anticipation of heavy winds tonight.

While people here are taking basic precautions, their major concern does not seem to be Tropical Storm Hanna. All the talk is about Hurricane Ike — a much stronger storm in the Atlantic that may affect the U.S. next week.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON:

After returning from Gustav, we spent a day in Atlanta — just time enough to wash our clothes and dry out our equipment for the next storm.

Now, I’m blogging from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport as FOX field producer Brooks Blanton, freelance producer Kip Grosenick and I are waiting to board a flight to Myrtle Beach, SC to cover Hanna.

My home video camera, which absorbed too much moisture while shooting my last post (despite my best efforts to seal it in a plastic sandwich bag), has dried out and started working again. So, I plan to post new videos shortly after our arrival on the Carolina coast.

There isn’t much difference between covering a tropical storm and covering a hurricane before it arrives…

We still have to pack all our bad weather gear, stock up on water, dry food and supplies and find a suitable place for the satellite truck to park so we can stay live thru the storm.

Wednesday morning we flew to Savannah Georgia from New York, then had to drive nearly four hours north to Myrtle Beach South Carolina because Hanna shifted her path. We scouted a couple possible locations along the way, including the Litchfield Inn on Pawleys Island (great spot but too far south)before settling at the newly built Sandy Beach Resort just south of the main drag in Myrtle.

When we found out the city wouldn’t let us park our sat truck on the sidewalk in front of the hotel (the only spot protected from the expected winds) we found another spot just up the road at the Windsurfer Motel.

Today we shot interviews and b-roll on the beach, on a pier and in town for a story we put together for our affiliates across the country. We’ll be live until 2 am ET and do it all again tomorrow.

So far the weather has been picture perfect, but forecasters say we’ll get at least tropical storm force winds tomorrow afternoon and evening and heavy rains thru the night.