I lived in Boca Raton when Hurricane Wilma blew through. She came in from the gulf and CROSSED THE ENTIRE STATE before hitting Boca Raton. She was Cat 3 at our house, if not a borderline Cat 4.
I stood in the eye for that one and while that experience was cool, I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and I never want to do that again.
Anyway, Wilma was a pretty ragged storm the day before she hit and I wasn't worried much about her until the 4 PM update when she suddenly intensified from barely a Cat 1 to a healthy Cat 3.
We boarded up the first story of the house but didn't have enough daylight for the second story.
Bad move.... even though no windows got broken, the intense winds caused water to push under the windows (and especially the sliding glass door to our master bedroom balcony) causing water damage issues.
As another example, Hurricane Charley seriously farked up the Orlando area. Again, from the gulf side.
We don't have mountains and the "land" is pretty swampy so landfall doesn't mean much in terms of hurricanes maintaining intensity.
So, the answer to your question is, "YES! Board up!"
Here's my rule: If it's predicted to be Cat 2 or higher, absolutely board up. If it's predicted to be Cat 3 or higher, board up and evacuate.