I have a question regarding evacuation...

history - where I am in Sarasota we are not considered to be in an area that is an evacuation area for even a CAT 5, nor are we in an area that is predicted to be affected by storm surge from any size storm (got this info. from a link Margie posted yesterday - Thanks). Incredibly, we are only 1.5 miles from Sarasota Bay and they still say the surge from even a 5 would not affect us. We are considering going further inland and have started the process of reservations for several days, but due to the infastructure on the west coast, I see a huge parking lot of I75 and I4, due to the evacuees from further south of us.

The problem is that I will not leave our dog behind, so have sought out places that will accomodate, but feel that we would be taking lodging from someone who may need it much more than us. How much faith should we put in the surge models out there? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance...