Are You Ready for Hurricane Season?

Hurricane preparation is a bit like writing a will, something that requires accepting an unpleasant eventuality. Tropical Storm Barry passed over Cedar Key without significant impact. The storm arrived only days after a seminar for Cedar Key's business owners on how to recover from a disaster. (The seminar was, to be polite, lightly attended.) About a dozen agencies put on a Hurricane Preparedness event at the Cedar Key Community Center. It was very poorly attended. Does this all mean that we have all laid in survival supplies and have an evacuation plan? Don't bet your life on it.

Fourteen years ago the "Storm of the Century" hit Cedar Key, and most of the eastern quarter of the US. Eyewitnesses tell of three giant waves that made the others look small. If Hurricane Katrina had hit Cedar Key the Storm of the Century would look tame. How many people in Cedar Key evacuate for hurricanes? Several people from Cedar Key went to help in the recovery from Katrina. Ask them what storm surge can do. (Just ask Whitney Edmunds, Jimmy Lawrence, Doug Maple, Ken McCain, or David and Lorna McCumbers.) The T-V coverage of Katrina was spectacular, but talk to those who saw the aftermath first hand. Then get to work on your hurricane preparations if you haven't done so.

The optimists among us watch the weather channel. The pessimists evacuate. But if you watched the path of Hurricane Charlie as it made a ninety degree change in direction, sparing Tampa before crossing the state you know the situation can change rapidly. Note that Fort Lauderdale was devastated after landfall on the opposite side of the state. Regardless of which direction a hurricane comes from you need more than a "personal floatation device."

Past editorials in Cedar Key News have gotten constructive criticism as being short on clear recommendations. Not in this case. Make a plan! Buy batteries and canned goods! Prepare to take care of your pets during evacuation! Evacuate if need be! Remember Katrina!

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