Yep. And that makes all the difference. Not many trees close to the beaches, either, and those they do have tend to be smaller and/or more flexible and wind resistant. Which is a good thing. Just about any decent structure can withstand a wind of 85 knots (=98 mph), but not a tree moving at that speed.
It won't be a walk in the park there, and I don't minimize their problems, but some pretty good things have happened, all things considered: 1) sustained winds of 100 mph are a LOT better than 120 or 130 -- wind pressure on structures increases as the SQUARE of increases in wind speed; 2) storm surges are similarly geometric; 3) with due consideration for those in her path, she's hitting the coast at a pretty good place -- strongest winds just to the east of the eye will be felt mostly in unpopulated areas (village of Ocracoke excepted, and it's on the sound side and will be mostly OK); and 4) it's moving along briskly, and the flooding problems should be much less severe than was the case with Floyd.