I'm a native of Charlotte, lived there during Hugo, and still live in Charlotte's exurbs. Even to this day, deep in the woods around here, you can orient yourself by remembering that all those decaying tree trunks were laid down pointing west to northwest, as the eye, still intact 200+ miles inland, passed just to our west.
Charlotte is a good example of the tremendous amount of damage which can be inflicted by winds of "only" 90 mph or so. Pines and palms near the coast are sparser and more flexible than the huge oaks and other hardwoods Charlotte is famous for. I would guess that 90% of our damage was indirect (caused by falling trees) as opposed to direct (wind blowing out windows or tearing off roofs). Obviously, above ground utilities were the first to be knocked out, but below ground utilities weren't safe, either, as the roots of the huge felled trees ripped up underground power, cable, and phone lines; natural gas lines; and even water and sewer pipes.
We had a ton of damage from Cat 1 Claudette a few years ago because the ground was already saturated when it came through. Huge, huge live oak trees down everywhere.