A couple of factors keep most hurricanes away from the mountains. There's a strong gulf stream current that tends to lead hurricanes up along the east coast, sometimes as far north as NYC. And also the Gulf of Mexico can draw hurricanes away. Hurricanes dump so much rain on land that they have to be constantly replenished by water sources, otherwise they'll peter out pretty quickly. Land also exhibits something like drag on hurricanes and tends to slow them down.

I bet there have been some hurricanes whose edges have grazed central NC, but the most intense weather (heavy, sideways rain, storm surges, and 200mph+ gusts) are experienced at the edge of the eye. It's rare that hurricanes are so big and intense that land far away from water experiences the worst of it.

Source: grew up in south Florida.