I have a weeks rations in nonperishable foods, candles, batteries, charcoal, fully stocked firstaid kit, and ten gallons of gas set up for evey hurricane season. I am now trying to talk my wife into getting a generator. She is from Mass and has never been in a hurricane. She once at a family party talked about me going overboard on being prepared until everyone there said they did the same. I respect these storms.
Last year I took a course to become an insurance claims adjuster. The section on claims from hurricanes was very brief--the words "Total Loss- limits of policy" were mentioned repeatedly.
If your wife is from Mass tell her that the aftermath of a hurricane is like the combined aftermath of a blizzard and an ice storm that takes out all the powerlines.
After Elena last year parts of Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas were without electricity for more than a week, a few almost two weeks. When the trees fall on the power lines, they have to cut down the trees, cut them up, and haul them away to get to you.