I would be cautious about putting too much faith in the NHC's prediction and watch the entire cone. I left my boarded up, stocked, prepared home for Charley, and headed inland since I was on that direct hit line and we were ordered to evacuate. We evacuated to Arcadia and ended up enduring Charley at full Cat. 4 strength in an unboarded, unprepared home. We stepped out to a world that cannot be described once that storm was over. It took a week before roads were cleared enough to allow us to return home. In the meantime we were without provisions. We returned home to find not a single palm frond disturbed and life going on as usual.

So, I'm understandably skeptical of the "experts".

If the NHC says it's going to hit Tampa, it might just hit Ft. Myers instead. So wherever you plan to be, make plans early and prepare the location of where you plan to spend your time regardless of the predictions.

There IS a "cone" for a reason...and where you were located was well within that cone of error. The NHC has done a fabulous job in the last few years and you should be grateful that you had somewhere to come home to..instead of complaining about the place you went to that got so hard hit...weather is a science, not an absolute. I surely hope we don't have to have a repeat conversation about Fay..just bear in mind, my friend, that you, as well as I, are well within that "cone".