Hurricane hype is why. We are shown (for dramatic purposes) this YUGE spinning whirlwind with 150 mph winds to make you think it’s ALL like that. When actually only a small area has those winds and they diminish rapidly the farther out from center you get.
Michael was 350 miles in diameter, so a 25 mile path of destruction is imaginable.
That may be true for wind. But not for surge. Severe surge can happen over 100 miles to the right of landfall. And as the saying goes, the wind will scare you, but it’s the water that will kill you. Sandy had minimal hurricane force winds at landfall. And trashed the coasts all the way up into Long Island from a South Jersey landfall.
There were 83 miles of east-west major commerce thruway Interstate 10 impassable in both directions due to fallen trees. For reference, I-10 is about 50 miles inland from where Michael made landfall. Do the math.
Tell the people living far inland in GA who lost 53 chicken farms, cotton crops, homes damaged by fallen trees, and the 900,000 people who lost electricity in your self-described "only a small area" that had those over-hyped winds damage their livelihood.
Your need to be cynical far exceeds your knowledge and expertise for hurricanes. Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to pound your keyboard and prove it.