I grew up in Florida. As a kid my house was about 100 yards from the coast and almost 3 feet above sea level. I've spent some hurricanes in my home and some hurricanes with relatives in the highlands. I was too young to go to a hurricane party.

The timing of the tide is so important. It could be massive flooding or just wind and rain.

But I understand the process of estimating the damage and making the decision. And in most cases, I'm not going to slam anyone for their decision. The good thing is that now we have much better information. Of course there always are those Darwin-award wannabes such as the folks who rode out Ike on a pier.

Both Gustav and Ike have come through my neighborhood. Fortunately they were only tropical storms by the time they hit. Gustav got stopped by a high-pressure pocket and was 60 hours of non-stop rain. Ike passed through in just a few hours but ripped up a lot of trees and phone poles. Local refugees of Gustav had to endure several days in an evacuation center that had lost its power. One local man was killed when Ike knocked over a tree onto him.

So either way, leave the coast or stay, there is danger. It may not be a cut and dried decision.