It’s not just the wind you need to worry about but the rain and storm surge. That storm was huge and pushing a lot of water. People found out with Ike, Rita and Katrina that diminished winds doesn’t mean lower storm surge in large storms.
Ike hit 100 miles west of Rita but the storm surge for Ike was 2 feet higher in the Rita impact area. I had friends and family get wiped out twice from the two storms.
4-4.6 storm surges so far. Head for the hills...
A STORM SURGE HEIGHT OF ABOUT 4.6 FEET HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT OREGON INLET NORTH CAROLINA...AND A STORM SURGE HEIGHT OF ABOUT 4 FEET HAS OCCURRED SO FAR AT THE MOUTH OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/272253.shtml?