How bad are the hurricanes in nc? Will you be safe in a brick house?

A hurricane is a hurricane, no matter where it is. If your basement starts to flood, you will have plenty of time to get out or go upstairs. You should be able to get a rough idea of the probability of flooding from the FEMA map of the area. Any local realtor should have the pertinent one. They should be online too. A biologist who does wetland delineation could give you a fairly accurate assessment by looking at the soil, and plants around the house. Expect to pay a few hundred dollars for the information. Generally, you want a place on a hill, not one that is at a low point.

They are better and no worse then a hurricane is in any other state.  

How safe you would be in a brick building depends on who far it is from the hurricane.  I leave in the western third of NC, so I am more than 400 miles from the coast.  Plus I am on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which blocks 99% of hurricanes reaching me.

the most dangerous part of most hurricanes is flash flooding.  A brick building will not protect you from 20 feet of flood water.  You drown in a brick house the same as you would wooden house or anything else.