i lived half my life on the gulf coast near pensacola florida. i have been in several cat 4-5 hurricanes, if you have a house (not trailer) and you are significantly away from the water (500 yards or so) you really have nothing to worry about. given NO was a sub sea level city, they had stuff to worry about but its really just a bunch of wind. the news makes it out to be much more than it is. For those who have never experienced a hurricane its really not the hurricane you gotta worry about its the week or 2 of no power/AC/refrigerator goods that really sucks. although evacuating is not a dumb move either