I got to know "Charley" so well, up close and personal, that I feel at home with his nickname

Yes, as I alluded, anyone near the coast at the point of landfal *will* suffer from a much greater level of wind and related damage but even more dangerous than the wind in many cases is the storm surge. Both can cause much damage. With that said, remember the original poster was worried about a storm negotiating the length of the state and the reference to CharlIE was meant to show how fast a storm loses wind speed. The wind speed damage is way down after only a relatively few miles (say 20-40 or so) and the damage changes from utter destruciton of a major storm to the more general (albeit still very expensive and life threatening) trees down, roofs penetrated by falling trees, power outages, flooding and such. None are any fun but the house isnot usally eraseded from the face of the earth like near the impact location. The exception is the tornadic activity that often follows the storm many hundreds of miles inland...those can wipe a structure completely away. Most of the damage remains trees down (and resultant damage to structures) and flood. Again, worry doesn't solve anything, planning does. Preparation lessens risk and helps survival after the storm. Worry does neither. I think Dennis will miss the state for the most part, with the exception of the panhandle, but only a small shift of the course to the right of the model projections would mean much of the state could feel some effects and that justifies getting prepared. As busy as this season appears to be, any unused supplies will likely be used in the near future. I suggest getting them now while they still are available rather than waiting until too late. Take care...
Richard