As we waited last week for Hurricane Florence to make landfall, bringing threats of major devastation as a Category 4 storm, I thought back to the last hurricane of that strength to hit North Carolina — Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

I’m old enough to remember Hazel. We lived inland from the coast, and I was a first grader, but still, it isn’t something you ever forget.

We were all at school when Uncle Jack came to our classroom to get us. He picked up Gwynne, John, Matt and me and loaded us all into the pickup. We sat on top of each other in the front with him instead of riding in the back of the truck as we often did as a group.

The rain was coming down in sheets, and trees were going down before our

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