speaking as someone that has been through many many of them i'll say this. Generally speaking the hurricane isnt the shity part, not having power for 3 or 4 or 15 days after is what sucks. In 2004 we had Frances and then Jeanne come back to back like 3 weeks apart. Both basically right over where I live. Think my power was out for 9 days with the first one and 16 days for the second one. After the second one came through we just hauled ass to Georiga cause I was done with not having power.
Everyone that lives no where near the coast says to leave. Thats a pretty common answer. For those of us that live here daily, hurricanes are really not that big of a deal generally. Yes, if a cat 5 is coming directly over your house thats different, but your normal cat 1-2's are typically some wind and rain. No big deal. You also have to realize that our building codes ect are an insanely higher standard then that of building codes in ohio or where ever. 99.9% of the time no damage is done to your house. A good chunk of houses that do get damage are some shingles coming off the roof.
Be safe
