This is rather puzzling; I was following the forecasts rather vicariously, since it didn't affect my situation directly and Mike's intensification to a cat 4 was known to me, sitting snug in SoCal well in advance of landfall - I really didn't note the precise time, but the growth of the storm beyond tropical storm status was stated well in advance. How much advance notification do you need, if a serious event is headed your way (fire, hurricane, tornado - take your pick)?

These days I am free and footloose with few obligations to tie me in one spot and certainly everyone does not have that freedom. I would think that in hurricane country, bugging out in advance of a storm would be an acceptable excuse for almost anyone, but circumstances vary, quite enormously. Driving a couple of hundred miles to an uncertain destination isn't a big deal for me (been there, done that) but that may not be the case for everyone.

I have experienced exactly one hurricane - during an extended training assignment in southern Georgia in 1978. As it turned out, we were on the westerly side of the storm and, although classes were suspended for a day, we had little or no effects, other than a good rain. I remember passing the time by going for a six mile run (wet but fun).

I have read somewhere that many folks experience hurricanes, while on the periphery, and develop complacency as a result, only to be rudely surprised when the storm scores a bullseye.

You make a good point about Chinook winds - here we have Santa Ana winds of about the same velocity, but these are just winds, without accompanying rainfall. In SoCal, when fires are flamed by Santa Ana winds, a prudent person will move, as many of us did about a year ago during the Thomas fire, one of many recently that were fanned by significant wind.