Landfall in that region is a misleading concept, more water than dry land across the area and very warm water, shallow bays and sounds. Once it gets out over the Atlantic, it’ll be past the warm Gulf Stream also; it collides with the much cooler Labrador Current off Cape Hatteras, which typically weakens the storm.
I wonder if the MSM already has people lined up to say “President Bush doesn't care about...oops.” With the MSM’s template on Hurricane's aftermath coverage being set by Katrina, how will they now handle it when they have a President they can't blame.