One thing that seemed to be remarkable about the last two hurricane seasons, aside from the unusually high number of storms and the mind-boggling power of them, was the direction they headed. Most of the major storms impacted the Gulf region or the east coast of Florida. I have read that was because of the so-called Bermuda High (and I can't explain what that is) being placed differently than it is most years, centered farther south and west I believe? The placement of the Bermuda High was largely responsible for WHERE the storms went, or so say those who know such things.
I've read online predictions from scientists who say that the Bermuda High is very unlikely to be in the same place for this hurricane season, and we usually get that figured out sometime in the spring. So perhaps we'll get more storms on the Atlantic side. That's what I'm hanging onto, anyway.
But yes, if the Gulf is warm that means we are likely to see storms form in it, ala Wilma. I am clinging to the knowledge that even with a major hurricane -- with the very notable exception of Katrina -- the damage is usually very focused around a small area. There are thousands of miles of coastline. It stinks to be in the 20-mile radius, but at the same time, the odds of that happening in any one place are pretty slim.