Well, Hurricane Earl seems intent on making a visit somewhere along the East Coast.  But what if.....he visited here instead?  

I remember when Ray and I were relocating here five years years ago many friends asked, "Aren't you scared of a hurricane hitting the island?"   Concerned?  Maybe.  But not really "scared."  I didn't think it was worth it to dwell on the "what if" in order to live on such a beautiful slice of paradise on a daily basis.  And five years later..........I still feel the same way.

The last time that Cedar Key received a direct hit from a hurricane was in 1950......Hurricane Easy.  It was a Category 3, destroyed two-thirds of the homes here on the island, dumped 38 inches of rain, had a storm surge of 5.1 and blew 125 mph winds.  So yes, it was pretty bad!

1985 brought Hurricane Elena coming up the Gulf Coast.........but she wasn't a direct hit to Cedar Key.  She had 115 mph winds and was 50 miles to the west.  But she did cause coastal flooding.

In August of 2008 (3 years after I moved here) we were paid a visit by Tropical Storm Fay with 45 mph winds, causing some minor flooding before she headed up toward the Panhandle.

We have an excellent Emergency Management system in place in Levy County and on our island.  We even now have an emergency siren.........three loud blasts means a mandatory evacuation.  Like us, many people that live here have generators, should we lose power.  We also have a well with pump, so we'd have access to water.

As an author, probably the biggest impact for me would be not having computer access for both my writing and communication.  Our home is situated on a 22 ft. elevation, therefore flooding is not one of my major concerns for either my house or my writers studio.  All of my writing has been put on CD's........and yes, if we had to evacuate, you can bet those CD's would be one of the first things to get packed to go with me.  

Having lived here for five years, I know without a doubt that should a hurricane ever hit causing damage, the people and community of Cedar Key would all come together to help each other.  Because........well, that's just what we do here.  That's one of the reason's I love it here.  

So back to that "what if" in my title........I think I'll just leave those "what ifs" to my writing which inspire my stories.  Oh.........and I'll also continue to be grateful every single day that Cedar Key is the place I'm fortunate to live.

See you here next time..........And if you're in the area, stop by and visit our friendly little fishing village.