There are still important data to collect for research purposes. As the models get finer and finer resolution, there needs to be observational checks on their output.
I hate to make this point, but we seem to have already escaped the worst-case scenario. If Ian took the track into St. Pete/Clearwater, the surge up Tampa Bay would have been intense. With the storm slipping south, it'll be bad, but not top-tier.
The 06z HWRF is clearly the worst case scenario with the water funneling up Tampa Bay. But it seems to be on the west side of guidance now. Anything that leaves Tampa on the north side of landfall (Sarasota, Venice) would avert a much larger disaster.
Morning modeling looks pretty good for you. There seems to be a touch of a bend back at landfall. Even if it slips to your east, that'll just make the water even more wild with a more northerly/westerly component.
12z GFS is interesting. Gets into the Gulf with a path over the tip of Cuba, but since it misses the trough that the Euro has it just sits and slowly loses intensity off of Tampa.
The Euro track is so similar to Charley. Weak TD/TS through the southern Caribbean, slides south of Jamaica, cuts up through Cuba near Havana, and into southern FL.