FWIW, there is a lot more model support now, with a landfall somewhere between N.O. and the Panhandle. Anywehre from a moderate tropical storm to a CAT 1. http://moe.met.fsu.edu/tcgengifs/
Correction: The GFS actually takes it over the Keys and S. Florida.
-------------------- Survived Carol and Edna '54 in Maine. Guess this kind of dates me!