I just got off the phone with inlaws in Swan Quarter, NC. That's the county seat of Hyde County, linked by ferry to Ocracoke, which is also in Hyde County. In Swan Quarter, winds have begun to switch from easterly to southerly. It appears the eye will just miss Swan Quarter to the west, though it's possible that they'll see the eastern edge of the eye. So they're beginning to experience the "northeast quadrant" near the eye, the most severe portion because forward speed of the storm adds to the circular wind speed.
They have no power, and they have a pecan tree down (not close to the house; folks know from experience not to plant trees close to houses), but otherwise no real problems. Phones (land lines and cells) are fine. Like a bad nor'easter, they say, but not as cold. A "mandatory" evacuation was ordered, ignored by almost all.
Their primary concern has always been tidal flooding as opposed to wind. Not because of crops this year (it's been so wet, most farmers don't have much of a crop to lose [corn, soybeans, vegetables, winter wheat -- too far east for tobacco and cotton]), but because they feared saltwater contamination which can ruin fields for years. They are now confident that won't happen. There's also a good deal of forest land down there, both state forests and tree farms, which I would expect will receive some damage. But they're pines, which are much more resiliant than the hardwoods we have here in the Piedmont.
Their attitude so far: "no big deal." I'll call again to see if the eye passed over them.
Update from Swan Quarter...
I talked with inlaws again. They may have experienced a bit of the eye, as the wind abated for a while. Judging from the track of the storm, they almost surely experienced pretty close to the maximum winds of the storm, near the northeastern or eastern eyewall. So (just a guess) they may have received 80-90 mph winds. Winds there have now shifted from easterly to southerly, and should be out of the southwest soon. They have diminished considerably -- maybe 40-50 mph as of a few minutes ago.
Good news and bad news. The good news is that structural damage in the area, per their observation, and by phone calls to friends and neighbors, is rather minimal -- some damage to mobile homes, some missing shingles and the like on other houses, and of course some downed trees (not a lot, though). And there was never any concern about personal injury. Power still out, and most likely will remain out for some time; phones are fine.
But the bad news -- the tidal flooding that they feared, and then began to feel confident that they had escaped, has come about, suddenly and in a pretty big way. Their yard has a foot of water in it, as well as somebody'd rowboat bobbing around. Their house is built high enough so that it won't flood, but others won't be as fortunate. There's a nice 50-year-old house near them whose first floor had never flooded until Floyd -- but now it has again. The larger concern is for the huge commercial farming operations in Hyde County. The water is a combination of rain, canal water, and brackish bay water. Exactly how salty it is will determine the extent of long-term agricultural damage. It should recede fast, and they're still hopeful that the long-term damage won't be too great; certainly almost anyone with crops in the ground now will lose them, as the "high ground" in the vicinity is about 5 feet above sea level.