Good idea... If I lived in Destin, I'd be puckered a little right now. I DO expect a LATE turn. Which means, Destin landfall is still in play. IF, it goes that far west, there'll be a lot more time to re-intensify.
That said, when/if the "turn" comes, I think it will be fairly sharp. So, yea.... Tampa area is probably still the most likely.
Bottom line is: NO ONE really knows. Which, is the big problem I have with telling millions to evacuate. To where? What place is "safe"? NO WAY I'm staying ANYWHERE NEAR a storm surge area. Outside of that? I'm only going as far as needed to find a sturdy structure. For MANY people, that's the home they're in.
You just never know with some of these storms. I believe most the “experts” were shocked when they saw the 28’ storm surge from Katrina (many in the area say 30’+). I know of several in the area that were totally shocked they had to get onto the roofs of their homes because of the surge.
Hurricane Ivan was going into New Orleans then Mobile then to Pensacola. We left and kept going east but it kept turning. Sometimes you cannot just go north because you cannot get hotels. We ended up in some of the worst of it. You just never know with some of these storms.