[NautiNurse]

The storm was deepening so fast that there is almost certainly a swath somewhere near landfall that was completely destroyed.

Similarly, the storm was moving ~20mph. Add that to the unfortunate areas getting blasted with 140+ mph winds on the SE side. Total devastation is completely understandable.

[Strategerist]

The absolute wind max at landfall was pretty small, and somewhat dodged the really heavily populated areas.