I have been thru 5 hurricanes and several TS.
I have seen the damages of a Cat 5, Michael, that hit Panama City and Mexico Beach.
The Gulf waters are extremely warm, and Idalia could spin up rather quickly, like Camille in 1969................
I am in Inverness which is 30 miles inland from the gulf coast and currently well outside the projected cone, hope it stays that way. We are prepped anyway & expect some wind and rain, hope it stays its course and doesn’t get bigger that the projected cat3.