Exactly Claret,
I flew within 40nm of Ingrid on two occasions and it was exactly as you indicated. we were clear of significant cloud and a bit of wind and maybe not in a bugsmasha but thats only a matter of speed.
Years ago we used to do a lot of work for power and water and they required to attend the sceen of bad weather including cyclones asap after. Thats were the damage was. I can't say I enjoyed it as it was normally at night, didn't have radar BUT we made it safe. Flying near bad wx including cyclones can be safe. If your groundspeed in a C310 towards the cyclone was only 25 kts, which I doubt, it would have been over 300 on the way home whats the problem if you have fuel???
It woould be prudent to move your aircraft prior to winds exceeding aircraft limits, that however is up to the owner to risk. I am sure they know what they risk.