[southernnorthcarolina]

But then, they don't have trees in Texas and Oklahoma to blow down.

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.

[Interesting Times]

Good post. It could have been much, much worse.

[NittanyLion]

Exactly. Outside of folks with the unfortunate luck of having a tree fall on their house, I don't expect this will be as bad as advertised.

[biblewonk]

The power in wind increases cubicly with the velocity not to the square.

[Overtaxed]

Not many trees close to the beaches, either, and those they do have tend to be smaller and/or more flexible and wind resistant.

I just hope the ice storm (whose damage I just finished cleaning up) took out the week trees so I won't find anything on my house when I get home. :)<