as much as folks will protest about this comment, hurricane's generally aren't that big a deal... one in likely 20 is... and the 'big deal' is firmly in two categories imHo, one being: people knowingly building in harms way and then crying when the inevitable happens, and two: people making a bigger deal out of something for either political or monetary gain..... there are the few in between that have legitimate complaints that both the 'wings' rely on for their existence, and those are generally due to relaxed or ignored building codes (when they 'thought' they were getting something they didn't) or not being informed about risks due to location (which is a cry to ignorance, and hardly forgivable if someone is dropping a big chunk of change on property and not performing due diligence)....
i can see the inter-coastal waterway from my driveway- it is about 1/4 mile away... yet my house is 26' above sea level, which doesn't sound like much but because the sound is tidal, the tides remove backed up water twice a day- and because of that, my property has never in recorded history flooded... this mitigates risk of rising water... falling water and wind is a concern, and why i carry wind and hail at a pretty significant expense... 'messes' are just that, and most hurricanes are no worse than severe thunderstorms... of course this last one was- as it literally sat on my area for more than 72 hours of battery on the NE quad, and spawned at least three tornado's in my 'hood (possibly four). one of those? that could happen anywhere.
all this said... and this is either humorous or alarming-
there is significant construction in my 'hood... last spring i built a workshop/garage (the one with the bar/cookpit on back of it i posted pics of) and while clearing/grading, i was amazed by the amount of seashells present just under the surface... and then, of greater interest, behind me and a little further from the sound another house was just built... while grading for it a whale's jaw bone was found first, and then a good part of the rest of it.... most would think COOL!!!, but me? I'm thinking "this friggin' place was underwater not that damn long ago........"