I don't know the area but wouldn't somewhere like upper broad creek or offshoots of the trent river provide good shelter?
Seems to be reasonable depth a long way up into it.
So, more on what Ben said. Upper Broad *IS* a great place to ride out a storm at anchor. In fact, most of Blackbeard Sailing Club marina, which is located right there in Upper Broad, anchored there and they had a 100% survival rate. It's wide with a soft, muddy bottom that holds great. Additionally, the east wind was definitely favorable for that anchorage.
Ben and I are friends, but I always felt that, while successful, riding out a storm as he did, tied to a tree in a narrow creek, was pretty reckless. And I have told him that. However, it worked for him... It was his "plan". So I can criticize it until the cows come home, he had his own reasons for doing it and it is his call --- NOT mine. All I can do is hope he doesn't die. Period.
What's my point? I guess is that there are no absolutes. We stayed in a hurricane hole marina and survived while others didn't. (see attached image from a marina friend) Some say that was reckless. One marina in New Bern with floating docks got destroyed while another one, just like it, survived without a scratch. These storms move around. One change of direction that causes the wind to come from the west or the south would have changed everything.
If everyone that owns a boat with the means to move hundreds of miles out of the way of storms like this were the only people that made up the community, that community would be TINY. There would be no West Marine, no Defender, all marinas would be expensive, and towns wouldn't roll out the welcome wagon for the few people visiting by water. It's boaters like us, the middle-class boaters that DO need loans to afford it, that have raised the boating experience for everyone. Well, and Ronald Regan's huge tax cuts in the 80's that flooded the market with overseas built boats. So don't fault us for having to stay put when storms come. I can assure you, we do not WANT to stay. The anxiety Bess and I went thru I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
I can assure you, the insurance companies study the risks and apply things like 5x deductibles to manage their own risk. The next time you're in an airplane over, say, Miami. Look down. Every house has people in it that are paying some form of insurance... well, maybe 99%. It may not all be marine insurance, but regardless, that pool is huge. That is the reason insurance companies rarely go bankrupt.
Sorry... I ended up rambling.