I think many of us in Eastern North Carolina are breathing a sigh of relief after Cristobal skirted the coast about 10 days ago.  Although Cristobal left us without much of a problem there will likely be more to come in the weeks ahead.  Typically, the tropical season kicks off in earnest during the middle of August.  Some of our strongest hurricanes occur during September and even October.  For example, Category 2 Hurricane Donna hit our area on September 11, 1960.  Category 3 Hurricane Fran hit in the middle of September, 1996.  Hurricane Dennis and Floyd hit during the first three weeks of September in 1999.  Hurricane Isabel hit the coast on September 18, 2003.  One of the strongest hurricanes to hit Eastern North Carolina in the last century was Hazel and that hit on October 15, 1954.  Our most memorable storms usually don't occur until the last month of summer or early fall so we may yet have something to talk about before the year is over.