Also, is this "heghtened" intensity of the R/F storm quadrant quantifiable? Is it, for example 10%, or 20% stronger in winds, rain?
It is double jeopardy. If the eye passes over or too close to the west, they get the worst effect of the winds and storm surge. However there are lots of levees on the south side to mitigate some of that. But if it passes too close to the east (say within 20-50 miles), because of the counterclockwise flow of the winds and the geography, much of the storm surge will be pushed north and then west into Lake Pontchartrain, and then as the storm passes the winds will push that water south against the city, with the fear being that it could overtop the levees and cause the catastrophic flooding of the bowl the city sits in.